The Reign of the Four Generals: The North General
by A. G. DuBois
Summary: Jess, Nick, and Ben are on hiatus! I'm sorry for the wait!
1. LOST

Hey, I've rewritten and revamped! Feedback is appreciated.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Bleach or any of the original Bleach characters. I own Jess, Nick, Ben, and their zanpakutōs.

* * *

_'No! I can't die! Not yet! I have to find them! I need to find out what happened to them! Bi-'_

_'I am doing my best, but our current condition is complicating things.'_

_The reiatsu bearing down on us drew closer._

_I've fought many powerful Menos in the past, but this spiritual pressure made them seem like mere insects. It could have been that I was so weak and disoriented, laying there in the middle of nowhere at that moment, that this being seemed stronger than it was, but I could hardly see or hear anything over the reiatsu, much less stand upright under its pressure!_

_"Well, well, well, what have we here?" I recognized that voice. Of course I did. I knew all of their voices. All of the important ones, at least. The problem was I couldn't identify who the voice belonged to. The reiatsu was so loud that I could barely make out what the voice was saying. I tried to focus on the reiatsu. Maybe if I could identify that, then I could figure out who or what this person was. My efforts were useless, though; the spiritual force was so strong that I felt numb. I was no longer able to see or hear or feel anything._

_I tightened my grip on the hilt of my sword when I felt an icy hand try to pry my zanpakutō away from me. There was no WAY I was going to give him up! He was my other half! We'd been together from the start! He might not have been right next to me at the beginning, but he was still there, and I knew he was! Whenever things got hard, he was my strength. With the power that we had, my own will power wasn't enough to control it. I needed him!_

_I called out to him through the bond that we shared, screaming his name. I got no reply. Our bond was broken. We were separated. He couldn't hear me. It wasn't my fault, and it wasn't his. We weren't to blame. It was all this creep's fault. This thing with the oversized reiatsu pulled my blade from my hand without ever letting up on the pressure. I clung to my consciousness in futile desperation. I was fighting a losing battle, and it wasn't the admirable kind._

_The thing sneered again, but I couldn't understand a word of it anymore. I could tell from its aura that it had no intention of killing me._

_Its loss._

_When I woke up, it would learn of its devastating error. If it thought it could torture me or something, let it take its best shot. It was in for a surprise. Whatever it might have planned, it would have to deal with hell first. No, not hell, worse than hell. This thing would get the pleasure of facing a woman's wrath._

_I let myself slip into the welcoming darkness with the thought of revenge as my only form of comfort._

_I would take him back, and then I would kill it._

* * *

I glared at the wall. Yes, I remembered what happened. I wasn't happy about it. When I awoke, I had found that my situation had changed. I was locked in a little white box with no sword. My condition hadn't improved, but at least it didn't get worse.

I closed my eyes and listened carefully only to frown. I was completely surrounded by a light buzzing sound. I listened harder, trying to hear past it. The buzzing was still all I could hear. I reached out with my mind, calling out to him.

No answer.

I did hear a distinct echo of my inner voice, though. How strange. It sounded as if I had called out loud and the sound had echoed off of the white walls around me.

My hearing wasn't getting me anywhere, so I couldn't rely on my unique skill any longer. I grimaced as I opened my eyes. Well, I opened my right eye. I couldn't open my left eye at the moment. I took in my surroundings again, hoping to catch something that I missed before. I was completely surrounded by white. The walls were white, the ceiling was white, the floor was white, even the clothes I now wore were white. My usually pale skin seemed even paler in this setting. It wasn't just from my surroundings, though. I felt sick. I felt empty, like I hadn't eaten in days. While my stomach was empty and had been that way for a long time, the void within me wasn't cause by malnutrition.

I missed him.

I needed him.

He was my second soul.

We were two parts to one whole.

I was nothing without him...

Enough!

I would go insane if I kept going on like this! I needed to get out of here and find him instead of moping. I listened again, leaving my eyes open this time. I still couldn't hear anything besides that buzzing noise. Was it some kind of white noise machine? Whatever it was, it was annoying! I tried again, but I could only see the white walls and hear that stupid buzz. I groaned in frustration and pounded my fist against the wall. A sudden wave of weakness crashed through me causing my knees to buckle. I caught myself and stared at the wall again.

Oh.

That made sense.

The walls were made of sekki stone. That was probably another reason why I felt so weak.

Sekki stone reduces and negates reiatsu. Proximity increases the effect. I'm sitting here in a box of it. The walls must have been making the buzzing sound and blocking out everything on the other side. To the best of my knowledge, sekki stone had only ever been used in Soul Society. That didn't mean it couldn't be found or made somewhere like Hueco Mundo, more specifically Las Noches.

Stupid Szayel.

This greatly reduced my chances of escape. I wouldn't be able to collect enough of my reiatsu to punch through a sekki stone wall in one go, and I wouldn't have enough energy after the first punch for a second. Without him, I had extremely limited control over the power I had. Especially that one. The one that was completely and totally under control right now...

I touched the side of my face lightly. Sure enough, my hand was met with the smooth texture of the strange white substance that was plastered there. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I couldn't hear or see anything, but I could feel something; something that wasn't there.

I felt the shadows of the thoughts and emotions that he had felt just before we lost contact with each other. The thing on my face was a parasite that lived off of us both. It remembered what he felt when I couldn't feel him. He had separated us intentionally. He broke our bond before it broke from the strain. He did that to protect us, to protect me. He locked the majority of the parasite's power away with himself so that I could control what he left with me.

I wouldn't be able to do anything truly devastating, but I could use it to get me out of this little hell-box. Once I was away from the sekki stone, I wouldn't feel at weak, and I would be able to fight. That was important. Whether I was in Soul Society or Las Noches, I wouldn't be making anyone happy when I broke out. I stood in the dead center of the room with my harms held out in front of me.

Okay, they cheated first. I was minding my own business, and they jumped me when I was injured, locked me in a sekki stone prison with no windows or any visible form of ventilation, and they took my zanpakutō from me. So, I felt no guilt about cheating back.

"Shakkaho-Sokatsui!" The Shakkaho burst from my left hand and the Sokatsui from my right. This was my miraculous skill with kidō. I didn't like using kidō, so I only used it when I absolutely had to, but I had figured out how to use it without ever having any kind of teacher or someone else to watch. On my own, my kidō would never be strong enough to break through sekki stone, but I was suped up. I wasn't an arrancar or a vizard, but I did have a hollow mask. It was less than half of a mask, but it still increased my power. It strengthened my reiatsu and allowed me to control it better, which let me increase the power and control of my kidō.

The dust cleared quickly, displaying the small hole in the wall. The wall hadn't been as thick as I had feared. I would just be wasting my strength if I shot another blast, though. The wall around the hole was weakened, so now I could use my favorite method of handling a situation.

When in doubt, break stuff.

I balled my right hand into a fist and focused my reiatsu using what I had of my mask. I gripped the ground with my bare toes before I kicked off the ground and into the wall. I extended my fist and my voice simultaneously, watching the wall crumble under my advance. I caught myself when I landed on the other side. I saw that I was in a hallway, but didn't get a chance to look for more. I felt the parasite shift on my face. I couldn't see out of my right eye anymore. It would do this to me when I overexerted myself.

Using my hearing, I could "see" reiatsu. I guess it worked like echo location like with bats and whales and stuff, but I would "see" darkness with blobs of colored reiatsu around their owners. It got really weird when I found super strong reiatsus. I once found one so strong that my hearing bled into my other senses as well. I was able to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel every part of the reiatsu. The only reason I didn't suffer from sensory overload was because the reiatsu was being perfectly controled. But, I digress. From what I could "see" of the situation at hand, I needed to start moving. I took off down the hall. The adrenalin pumping through me helped me keep my pace up. I listened for his voice and reached out with my mind, but it was hard to deal with so much stimulation at once. Going from utter silence in my little box of doom to a world made entirely of spirit particles was literally deafening. I tried to tune everything out as best as I could and just try to find his voice, but it was a struggle. I heard physical voices shouting, most likely about my escape, as well as several decent sized reiatsus flaring and fluctuating as each creature prepared for the possibility of battle. Luckily, being in a world made of spirit particles meant I at least had a general idea of where the walls were as I ran through hallway after hallway. Finally, I felt my surroundings change. I was no longer in such a close, cramped space, but a wide open area. I had made it outside. The feel of the sun on my skin was refreshing after the stale, murky air from whatever building I was in.

If I was going to be able to do anything, I would need to get my mask off. Because of how unique my mask was, it was a double edged blade, even more so than a vizard's mask. It helped me, but it would make it harder for me to distinguish different reiatsus from one another or focus on just one. If I could get the thing off, I would be able to focus instead of being completely overwhelmed. The problem was I wouldn't be able to deal with it without him.

_'WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU STUPID GIRL?'_

_'Oh, hi, it's you. I was just looking for you.'_

_'Silence! What did you do to trip so many alarms? After I saved your sorry ass, you-!'_

_'Yes, yes, I owe you. AGAIN. Just tell me where you are so I can come get you. I need to get this thing off of my face, the sooner the better.'_

_'You will have to remove some of it on your own first. You will become quite lost and disoriented if you continue as you are.'_

_'You say that like I don't get lost and disoriented normally, B.'_

_'It is not as dangerous to get lost in the wilderness or some city or town in the living world. Here, there are several hundred beings currently hunting you. And I told you I hate it when you call me that.'_

_'Yeah, yeah. You wouldn't have any idea what kind of creatures they are, would you?'_

_'No. I tried, but I mostly kept myself locked away. When I did open up, they were running their tests.'_

_'So you couldn't tell if it was Kurotsuchi or Szayel who was probing you?'_

_'No.'_

_'Damn.'_

_'However, I do not recall Las Noches being so crowded. It is much more likely that we were abducted by the Gotei 13 than by the Espada and their Fraction.'_

_'Do you really want to take that chance before I can see?'_

_'No. That is why I told you to take off some of the mask on your own first. If this is Soul Society, you'll want to remove all of it.'_

_'I can't.'_

_'Why not?'_

_'They put me in a sekki stone prison-cell-box-thing.'_

_'How articulate of you.'_

_'Shut up! The point is I used up most of my strength breaking out,' _I huffed. _'Speaking of which, I would still be there if you hadn't been your awesome self and locked away most of the parasite's power.'_

_'You are welcome. However, my seal will not last forever. If you do not have the strength to remove even some of it, you will need to find me as soon as possible. Until then, I will see what I can do about restoring your sight.'_

_'What would I ever do without you?'_

_'You would most likely suffer a-'_

_'Yeah, that's what we call a rhetorical question, stupid.'_

_'I know. I have told you not to speak to me in such a manner, moron. I will not tolerate your childishness.'_

_'Yeah, well-'_

_'Remember that I am more than capable of making you life miserable if you do not treat me with respect.' _Neither of us said any more. I nursed my bruised ego, trying to ignore his chuckling at my lack of poise. I locked enough of my attention on him so that I could still track him, but left enough free so that I could still focus on my surroundings and, hopefully, not run into anyone or anything. The parasite was still blinding me a bit, making everything blur together. I hoped I still had depth perception. I could feel him manipulate the parasite so it was no longer quite so overbearing. I was now able to distinguish the general shapes of things. With some careful maneuvering, I managed to make my way on top of a taller building to get a better view of the area. This place was like a maze, but had no roof or ceiling over all of it.

I was in Soul Society.

I couldn't help but let relief wash through me at this revelation. While I might not be safe here in my current state, I could prove to them over time that I was an ally. In Hueco Mundo, I would just be totally screwed. I leapt down from the roof and began darting down the street once more. It was much easier to find him now that he had cleared up some of my 'sight'. I was so anxious to get back to him I focused all of my attention on his reiatsu. I ran and ran and ran until I stopped. I laid there on the ground trying to figure out what just hit me. I slowly sat up and focused on what was in front of me.

I looked with my ears, not with my hands; the last thing I needed was to reach out and end up frisking one of the captains. I suppressed a shudder and focused again on what was before me.

A wall.

I got hit by a wall.

I stood and brushed myself off. My face heated up in embarrassment and anger. My blush only worsened when his laughter rang in my head. Apparently, he found my pain humorous...

_'I'm so glad I amuse you. Get back to working on the mask, you bum.'_

_'I am multitasking.'_

_'Riiiiight...'_

_'Just because you have the attention span of a gold fish-' _I jumped when he was interrupted. High, bubbly giggles floated through the air. This was yet another voice I recognized.

Fortunately, there was only one person who I could think of that laughed like that.

Unfortunately, she was not exactly who I wanted to run into in my current situation.

I turned my head to face the source of the sound on top of a wall to my left. Even though I couldn't see anything at the moment thanks to my mask, facing things and people brought me a sense of comfort. At that moment, my left eye was completely covered by my mask. It worked like an eye patch, effectively keeping my eye locked shut. My right eye was different, and much more complicated. My mask started out as a simple, bone-like ring that fit around my eye. When I wore it, the circle would become black, and my already keen hearing would improve even more. When I used more of the parasite's power, the mask would grow across my face. Sometimes, when it starts to fight back, it takes away my physical sight in exchange for being able to see only spirit particles. The particles themselves just give off a gentle buzz, but reiatsus have stronger sounds, each one unique. My mask currently stretched across my eyes and around some of my head.

"Hi there! You look pretty funny. Are you a hollow? Oh! Or an arrancar?" I groaned to myself; it was her. Any other time, I would be ecstatic to meet her. Now, not so much.

"N-no," I croaked out. I hadn't thought about it before, but it had been weeks since I last spoke aloud, may be even months. "I'm a shinigami, like you."

"Really? I think you're lying. Shinigami don't have hollow masks. Well, Ichii does, but he's special!" I could only see her bright pink reiatsu, but I knew her well enough that I could envision her beaming and tilting her head to the side in that oh-so-cute way of hers.

"I'm special too. I can take my mask off, but I need to have my zanpakutō to do it. Do you think you could help me find my zanpakutō?"

HOLY CRAP! I JUST ASKED KUSAJISHI YACHIRU FOR DIRECTIONS! WHAT WAS I THINKING?

"Maybe. Are you suuuuure you're a shinigami?"

"Positive."

"Okay, then!" I watched her, well her reiatsu, jump down to the ground. "I'm Kusajishi Yachiru, vice captain of the Eleventh Division. What's your name?"

"I'm Jessica."

"I'm gunna call you kitty, cause your mask looks like a cat!" It looks like a samurai helmet, but whatever. If she thinks it looks like a cat, then more power to her. "Let's go!" She grabbed my hand and took off. She let go after a minute, but I didn't stop following her. Keeping her happy was now one of my higher priorities.

"Yachiru, where do you think they're keeping my sword?"

"Probably with Mayurin at Squad Twelve."

"No, I'm pretty sure I was just there. My sword wasn't."

"Really? Hm...Oh wait! I remember now! At the vice captains' meeting last night we talked about a special sword." She stopped dead in her tracks causing me to nearly run into her. "Were they talking about your sword?" she frowned. I didn't know how to answer that. It most likely was him that they were talking about, but would Yachiru see me as the enemy if I said yes? I really hoped not, but she did seem upset at the idea.

"I don't know, it might be. My sword is special to me, but isn't every zanpakutō special to their shinigami?"

"Yeah... I guess so..."

"What's wrong? What's so special about that sword?"

"It's backwards." I didn't need to ask what she was talking about. That was him. My zanpakutō wasn't a katana like every other zanpakutō. Well, almost every other. He was a sakabatō, a reverse blade. It was a sword that has the cutting edge on the inwardly curved side of the sword. The blade's orientation causes it to be nearly incapable of killing. It's only typically used by master swordsmen since superior strength, speed, and precision are required for it to be wielded with lethal effectiveness. That said, I hadn't the slightest idea why my sword was one.

"Where is it now?" I just had to grit my teeth and ask. If Yachiru hated me, then she hated me. I could never side with her or anyone over him. Silence was my only answer. "I understand. Thank you. I'm glad I got the chance to meet you." I could tell from the change in the flow and tone of her reiatsu that she was sad about this turn of events. I walked past the tiny girl and searched for his reiatsu again, hoping I could pinpoint him a little better now.

"I don't know where they put the sword," she called after me. "I wasn't really paying attention." I couldn't help but smile at her. She was so sweet and she seemed to really want me to be her friend. I wanted to tell her that we could be friends after all of this blew over, but I was hesitant. Not that it mattered.

"I bet Nemun knows, though! Nemun's really smart!" I jumped at her sudden excitement. I guess she wasn't ready to give up on our young friendship just yet.

"That sounds like a good plan, but I can't go see Nemun."

"Why not?"

"I'm kind of playing hide and seek with the other shinigami."

"Really? Can I play?"

"Sure," I said with a stroke of genius. "You have to keep me hidden, okay?"

"Yay! Let's go find Nana! She's smart too! She might know where your sword is. I'll ask her and you can hide! Come on, let's go!" I silently prayed that she wouldn't get us lost finding Nanao. At least we weren't going to Nemu. I didn't have anything against Nemu, and I would still have to be careful to not let Nanao find me, but Nanao wouldn't go nuts and do whatever it took to capture me, in one piece or several, and then hand me over to Captain Freakenstein. Sure, I'm a Spartan in my battle philosophy, but I know the difference between being brave and and being stupid. I followed Yachiru as we wound through the Seireitei until we finally ended up...somewhere.

"Where are we?"

"We're at Byakkun's house."

"What?" I whispered. As scary as Kurotsuchi Mayuri sounded right now, I think I'd rather be found by him than by Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Don't worry, there's a Captains' meeting right now. Come on." I followed her closely trying to figure out what she was planning and why Nanao would be in the Kuchiki manor. "Quickly, down here." She opened a secret hatch in the ground and crawled through, holding it open for me to follow.

Huh.

It's just like in all those 'after-the-show-comedy-cartoons' about the Shinigami Women's Society. I stayed close behind her as I followed her through the tunnels and listened carefully to see how many shinigami were down here. There were about ten who were all higher ranks and a handful of others. I would be as good as caught if they noticed me.

"You wait here, Kitty. I'll go ask Nana about your sword." She darted off before I could say anything. The only thing to do was to wait for her and hope that I could keep my reiatsu hidden.

"...ou know where they're keeping it?"

"The Ōnmitsukidō took it into custody to prevent it from being stolen after that breach in security in the Bureau of Technology and Research earlier today."

"So it's in Division Two now?"

"Possibly, but they probably hid it somewhere else for security's sake." Crap. If Yachiru didn't have a specific destination, she was going to get me lost for sure. I left as quickly and quietly as I could. I pushed my growing guilt to the back of my mind. I didn't want to just abandon her like this, but I couldn't wait any longer. As much as I loved the little cutie, B came first.

Once I was outside again, I took off doing my best to keep to the shadows. I listened for a few specific reiatsus. Luckily, I was able to find and identify the ones I wanted. A large, wild golden cloud of reiatsu was off a ways to my right. I didn't take the time to reflect on the fact that his reiatsu had a coppery taste with a tone that I couldn't quite identify, I was just glad to see that Zaraki was far enough away for my safety and that Yachiru wasn't close to him, which meant that I wouldn't have to worry about her recruiting the beastly captain to hunt me down. An equally large reiatsu was off to my left. This one was a beautiful shade of burnt umber and had a smoky flavor and sounded like a warm, comforting, crackling camp fire. I marveled at Yamamoto's power. He was so strong and so in tune with his zanpakutō that I could almost hear echoes of Ryujin Jaka's voice. And unlike Zaraki, he kept his reiatsu naturally reigned in. Zaraki used his eyepatch, but Yamamoto used his own control. I quickly jerked out of my stupor when it dawned on me how far away the two reiatsus were from one another. A quick glance told me that the other captains were also spread about. The meeting must have ended.

The Ōnmitsukidō have my sword, so Soifon was probably guarding him or was at least close to him by now. Suzumebachi has a bee-like appearance, so I tried to single out a powerful light yellow reiatsu that had the subtle sound of buzzing bug wings. I was on the move as soon as I found it. I used the parasite to suppress my reiatsu as I got closer. I made sure to still stay back, though. I watched her reiatsu closely. It seemed like she was making rounds. Since Kurotsuchi had me first, they probably got information from any tests he may have done on me. They might know that I can hear and 'see' reiatsu. This could be a trap. I would just have to take that chance. I could hear a collection of weaker reiatsus around her, but they were stationary. They must be guards. I wouldn't be able to do anything until Soifon left. I tried to follow his reiatsu again, but I couldn't pinpoint him now. They must have improved the security to keep him locked in after the Captains' meeting. I could tell that I was closer, but I wouldn't be able to find him without some help. As soon as Soifon was far enough away, I put my haphazard plan into action.

**Phase 1:** I did some sneaking around until I found a few lone sentries. I knocked them out before they knew what hit them. Once the area was clear, I checked each one of their swords, feeling the shape of the suba on each one. I found one that was similar to my own and hoped that either the color matched mine or they wouldn't notice if it didn't. I hid the other zanpakutōs so they wouldn't know what I was up to and continued on my way.

**Phase 2:** I looked for a small group of guards who would unwittingly help me. I stood with my back to them. Took a deep breath, and let them find me.

"Halt! Who's there?" I heard medal clink as they readied their weapons.

"H-hey, i-isn't that-" I smirked at them over my shoulder. They gasped when they saw my mask.

"Thanks for sucking at your job, boys. Without you, I didn't think I'd ever see my sword again." I held the zanpakutō up so they could just see it.

Gotta love the power of suggestion. I disappeared without a trace before they could pick their faces up off the ground.

"H-how did she-"

"She didn't. She couldn't have. She has to be bluffing!"

"Yeah, there's no way she could have stolen it back!"

"Soifon-taicho would have stopped her."

"..."

"Why would she bluff?"

"Maybe we should check. You know, just in case." The others agreed and they all started off toward their captive.

**Phase 3:** I followed silently. I waited just out of their range as they stopped before a huge door. They carefully opened each of the many locks and then the door itself. They kept saying how they were sure that I was bluffing and that I couldn't have taken back my sword, but that tiny little spark of doubt was all it took for them to feel the need to check. They finally made it to the final box. They opened that and I could see my zanpakutō lying there surrounded by his reiatsu.

"See? I told you she couldn't have gotten to it."

"And I told you I couldn't do it without you boys." I sprung from my hiding spot and snatched my sword from his place before they could move to stop me. I drew my blade, glad to have him back in my hand where he belonged. "Thanks again." I smirked and knocked them all out with a few swift strikes. Having a reverse blade made it easier to do so without killing them.

_'It took you long enough.'_

_'I'm here, aren't I? Now how about we get this thing off of my face?'_

_'Very well.'_ I sheathed my sword and held it in my left hand, gripping the left side of my mask with my right. I could feel the strange material crumble under my fingers as I ripped it off. The left side of my face would be fine as usual, but the right side wouldn't. I could already tell it would have scarring.

Again.

If I left the mask on my face for an extended period of time, it would begin to root itself to my face, the longer it was on my face, the deeper the roots. Ripping those roots out was never pleasant. It's times like these that make me wish I was a vizard instead of a whatever I am. I finally got down to just the eye piece. It was different from the rest of the mask, so it wouldn't just crumble. I had to pull it off separately and very carefully so I didn't physically blind my eye. Just before my fingers touched the ring, my body froze.

"That's enough." Another familiar voice with an equally familiar reiatsu. My right eye was still stuck on 'spirit mode', but I could actually see out of my left eye again. Good thing, too. Captain Courteous' flaring reiatsu was almost deafening. I looked down at myself without moving my head to see yellow ropes that looked like they were made out of lightning.

Bakudo.

I found that my mask affected my kidō, so I assumed that it would be affected by kidō as well. It wasn't. I could hear the spirit particles in the rope and see them with my right eye.

"You left them alive. Why?" the captain demanded. For a stealth master, Soifon sure doesn't beat around the bush.

"I didn't come to kill, and I'm not looking for a fight. I just wanted to get my zanpakutō back."

"Interesting. I didn't know that arrancar call their swords zanpakutō as well."

"I don't think they do, then again, I've never bothered to ask one."

"Do you honestly believe that you can convince anyone here that you're not an arrancar when you have a broken mask?"

"I certainly hope so. If you use me as your basis for information on arrancar, you'll be totally screwed when you try to fight a real one."

"Soifon-taicho!"

"Wait, Soifon-taicho!"

I froze. Those were two voices I would never be able to forget.

"Soifon-taicho, please just-"

"Ben, look!" They were in my blind spot so I couldn't see them, but I could feel their eyes on me, and I could feel their familiar reiatsus.

"Jess?"

"Hey, Jess, just relax, alright?"

"Don't do anything reckless. Just put your sword down and-"

"Would you two morons please not talk to me like I'm three? I am relaxed, and I'm not going to do anything reckless. I'm crazy, not stupid." I heard their eyes roll and almost laughed.

Almost.

"That doesn't mean I'm just going to hand my sword over, though." I kept myself somber to show them I meant business. "They took him once, and I had to run all over Soul Society to find him. No one is going to take him again."

"We won't let them take it. Just show Soifon-taicho that you won't fight."

"You don't get it! I'm lost without him."

"Jess-"

"Nick, I had to get directions from Kusajishi Yachiru!" Ben cracked up.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to get here if it wasn't for her. I had to ditcher her, though. She's probably going to hunt me down now or something."

"Kusajishi-fukotaicho is the least of you worries. You are here by arrested-"

"Soifon-taicho, please-!"

"No! The two of you must know your place. That thing is not the girl you have been looking for. Your friend is dead."

_'This isn't getting me anywhere! Any ideas?'_

_'You need to break the bakudo.'_

_'And how do you propose I do that?'_

_'Be creative.'_

"Jerk!"

"Um, Jess, insults aren't going to help in this situation."

"I wasn't talking to any of you. Stupid, egotistical, glorified steak knife." I still had my sword in my left hand, so I focused on moving that thumb. Once I managed that, I used it to flick my sword a few centimeters out of its sheath. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Thankfully, Nick and Ben were unknowingly helping me by distracting Soifon. Ben, being the gung ho, trigger happy, nut job that he is, was trying to pick a fight with Soifon, and Nick was trying to literally knock some sense into him. I pushed my thumb down on my blade, cutting right to the bone. I pulled the digit back and listened to the blood drip onto the ground. I shut my eyes to help me focus on the pain, and held my thumb as close to the spirit ropes as I could.

"Haien!" A blast of purple energy burst from my thumb, incinerating the ropes. Some of the blast shot past and blasted the ground giving me a kind of smoke screen. I leaped away, trying my hardest to avoid Soifon's reiatsu.

"Hado #88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!"

"Crap!" I didn't know what "Hiryu-geko-fuji-shiatzu-high-ho" did, but I did know that the higher the spell's number, the more powerful it was. I was in no condition to take a hit from an eighty-freaking-eight! I held my hands out in front of me to quickly summon a shield,

"Bakudo #39: Enkosen!" My shield formed as a huge wave of blue electricity blasted toward me. Even with what I had left of my mask, the shield was barely strong enough to stop some of the blast. I landed on the ground in absolute agony. She had blasted me through all of the defense walls, landing me in an open courtyard. I groaned and only just managed to pry my eyes open. I stared up at the now starry sky. It was a velvety blue with no sign of any sunlight. The sun must have set right after I escaped from Dr. Freakenstein. I forced myself to focus; this was no time for star gazing! There was no way in hell that I would last another thirty seconds against the captain of both Squad Two and the Covert Ops. I grit my teeth and forced my arm to move through the pain to grab my mask. I had to get it off.

"Bakudo #9: Horin." The orange tendril wrapped around me, locking my arms to my sides. Soifon walked up to me. I _really_ didn't like the way her reiatsu was flowing now. She grabbed a fistful of my long blonde hair and pulled me up to her eye level.

"You are too dangerous to leave alive," she glared at me. The stealth master raised her sword to plunge it into my throat.

"No!" I gasped in fear.

"Beg all you want. It won't save you." She didn't understand! I wasn't afraid of dying. I died once already. I was terrified because I could feel my mask starting to grow again, this time of its own accord. My sense of self-preservation was taking over and so was the parasite. It would either attack Soifon or kill Ben and Nick before she could kill it.

"Get your ass in gear, you old fart!" My sudden outburst startled Soifon, but only for a moment. Her glare deepened. As she brought her sword forward to end my existence, I swung my legs up, kicking her arm away and planting my feet on her chest. I could feel him using his reiatsu to increase my speed and power beyond what I should be able to handle. If I survived this, I would be hurting. I kicked off of Soifon, using her for leverage. I slipped out of her grip and kicked her across the court yard.

I landed on my side on the other side of the courtyard.  
I moved onto my knees.  
I felt the parasite taking over as the mask stretched across my face.  
I felt B fighting it with me and giving me strength to fight it.  
I braced myself for the pain.  
I slammed my face into the ground.  
I felt my mask shatter beneath the force, the eye ring with it.  
I knew it wasn't gone, though; it would reform on the hilt of my sword like it always did.  
It just hurt like hell on the rare occasion that it did break.  
I didn't care.  
I was no longer in danger of losing myself to it.  
I suddenly became very aware of just how much pain slamming your face into the ground causes.  
I grit my teeth to keep from screaming.

"Jess!"

"Jess, what the hell?" Nick and Ben shouted as they ran over to me. I groaned into the ground as they rolled me over.

"Is there a reason you just smashed your head against the ground?"

"Ma-mas-ma-"

"Your mask? You almost bashed your head open so you could take off your mask? I get that Soifon-taicho wasn't listening, but if you hadn't resisted in the first place-"

"L-lo-los-si-"

"Losing? Of course you were losing! How could you possibly hope to survive a fight against Soifon-taicho, much less win?"

"You would be the one to worry more about that than yourself!" I gave up. These two were idiots. They're my best friends, the big brothers I never had, and they're ridiculously smart. They were still idiots. They were terrible listeners, and they rarely use those big brains of theirs. I forced my eyes open once again. It had been so long since I last saw them.

Nick pretty much looked the same as I remembered him. He had the same curly chocolate hair that was a little shaggy but still neat. He still had that round face that gave him a mature, 'little-boy' look. His dark brown eyes were soft and unchanged, but the glasses behind which they sat were new. Instead of the old thick square frames he had before, he had, suave new ones that completed his 'Clark Kent' look. He seemed more muscular that he was before, but he still had the presence of a thinker and planner, as opposed to a fighter like Ben.

Ben had changed a little. His buzzed brown hair had grown out. It was spiky in parts and some hung in his face. He had dozens of little scars across his face and neck. They didn't distort or detract from his features, but complimented them. Ben had always been a fighter, even if he didn't always look like it. His appearance matched his personality much better now. His square jaw and the little bit of stubble that covered it certainly didn't hurt his new tough-guy look. I was more than a little glad to see that his crystal blue eyes were unchanged. Even if the rest of him had changed even more than it did, I would still be able to recognize him by his eyes. I don't know what it was, but something about Ben's eyes was just so unique.

"Both of you stand down. I told you before, your friend is dead. That abomination is a danger to the Rukongai and to Soul Society. It must be destroyed."

"Soifon-taicho is correct. This threat is real and must be dealt with." I gasped. This new person's reiatsu was pushing the very air from my lungs. I was barely able to understand what the voice said, but I could hear enough. It was an old voice that emanated strength, control, and power. Coupled with the familiar blazing reiatsu, I knew it was Yamamoto. "However, Soifon-taicho, I will deal with this personally. This girl has much to tell us. She is to be taken to the fourth division where Unohana-taicho will see to her. When she is ready, she will stand before us."

* * *

This is a Haiku

to tell you "rate and review"

so please and thank you


	2. CAPTURED

**DISCLAIMER:** If I owned Bleach, Kenpachi would get a heck of a lot more screen/page time! Instead, I'm stuck with Ben, Jess, and Nick who aren't my own creation. I based them off of people I know.

* * *

I woke up feeling stiff. My face felt like it was on fire. I struggled to remember what happened.

My mask. My mask tried to take over. My life was in danger, so my mask had reacted. Soifon had tried to kill me. I was lucky she had underestimated me so much, or she would have succeeded. I couldn't remember what happened after that. Where was I now? Had I managed to get my mask off?

I raised my hand to touch my face only to find that my wrist was tied down.

My eyes shot open and I jerked forward trying to sit up, finding that my torso was locked down too. I couldn't move. I clamped my eyes shut again to focus on flaring my reiatsu as my panic began to rise. I fought and struggled, but the binds just wouldn't break. I could hear numerous voices shouting and darting about as different reiatsus flared and fluctuated. I could feel some of them trying to use bakudo to keep me from escaping.

I opened my eyes again to see the frightened faces of Fourth Division shinigami. The sleeves of their shinigami robes were tied back and they had on rubber doctor gloves that almost reached up to their shoulders.

"Please calm down," came a woman's voice. This was one that I knew well. It was definitely Unohana's voice. "You are here as our patient, not as our prisoner. We have you tied down for your own safety as much as ours," She stated calmly. She walked forward into my field of vision. Everything about her radiated peace and kindness, and I couldn't help but notice that her very presence calmed all of the other shinigami down completely. That did nothing to calm me in the slightest. The flow of her reiatsu was smooth and the tone was soft and melodic. I was still on edge.

"_My_ safety?"'

"We did not want you to panic and start attacking or run away as you just attempted. You are not yet fully healed and you could harm yourself or be harmed in your efforts." I didn't miss that. I wasn't sure if it was a threat or a warning, but she was deffinately telling me that I wouldn't be walking out of here in one piece if I didn't shut up and do things her way. "Please rest for now. I was just coming to check up on your progress." I relaxed showing her I would comply. She took a few steps toward me, but stopped dead in her tracks when I tensed up again.

"Where is my zanpakutō?" I tried in vain to keep the sudden panic out of my voice. I hated showing weakness and I would push through any pain without crying, but I had gone through so much to get him back that I was starting to lose it. I couldn't hear him. I couldn't feel his reiatsu either. Her face softened in what seemed to be understanding and compassion as she relaxed and approached me again. I tried to untense, but her new expression unnerved me. I didn't want pity, I wanted my zanpakutō.

"Your zanpakutō is safe. You cannot sense its reiatsu because it is locked in a barrier."

"Where? What kind of barrier?"

"It's just over there on your right." I turned my head to see a normal wooden table. On top was a transparent orange box with my sword lying inside. I finally relaxed my muscles, but still stayed alert. He was able to sense motives much better than I was, though I couldn't for the life of me understand why. Without his monologue rambling through my head, I felt lost. I had come to rely on his intuition in order to determine how I would react to others. In fact, this was the first time I had ever been completely cut off from him since first hearing his voice.

"Why is he locked in a barrier if I'm bound like this? I'm in no position to attack at all, much less with my sword."

"Your zanpakutō was_____…______…_uncooperative. In all my years, I have never seen a zanpakutō with such independent power. The reiatsu alone was strong enough to lash out and damage a few of my healers and several unlucky pieces of furniture and a wall."

"Damage?"

"Don't worry, it was nothing serious. Though, even after members of the kidō corps placed the barrier around your sword, it continued to struggle." She got a strange look on her face as she began to check my wounds with her glowing green hands. "It was not until I began healing you that it calmed down."

"So he sensed me even through the barrier. Not completely, I'm sure, but he must have sensed your reiatsu healing mine," I said more to myself. "He must feel as lost without me as I feel without him," I mumbled the last part under my breath. He helps me so much that I forgot how much I help him. He perceives the would through me. Without me, he can barely sense reiatsu well enough to tell apart a hollow from a lost soul. It was so easy to forget how important the bond between shinigami and zanpakutō really is; one is never complete without the other.

"I couldn't help but notice," Unohana said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I turned my attention back to her, noticing that she never took her eyes off of my wounds. "You keep calling your zanpakutō 'him' or 'he'."

"Oh." I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Didn't other shinigami talk about their swords that way? "What else would I call him?" She didn't answer right away.

"How do you know that he is a he?"

"Because I've spoken with him. I've seen him. He even told me that he's a he."

"He told you?"

"I asked." Then I stopped. How was I supposed to tell her that I knew that some shinigami had female zanpakutō that they thought were male? I wasn't supposed to know this kind of thing.

"I see. How long have you been able to talk with him?"

"For a long time." I answered quickly, glad that she had changed the subject. "I've been alone for a long time and his voice was the only thing that kept me sane. For a while I thought that I was hearing him because I had already gone insane." It was strange how easy it was to speak to Unohana about things that I never thought about saying to another being. Maybe I was just high on pain medication, but it was so easy to trust her. I could hear echoes of his voice telling me to be careful and watch what I said to her. Still, if there was one person in Soul Society who I could trust this kind of information with, it was Unohana.

Then she asked me something that caught me off totally guard.

"You are Nick and Ben's friend, right? You were with them for a while after you all died in that accident?"

"I- y-yes, how-?"

"They have told us quite a bit. So you became a shinigami after they did?"

"Yes. They both became shinigami while we traveled together. Eventually we got split up and I was on my own for a little while before I changed too. That's why I thought I had gone mad when I first heard his voice. He told me to do things that were stupid and dangerous. It was all for a reason, of course, but I was still sure that I had gone nuts. I was so close to becoming a hollow that I was confused and disoriented about what was real and what wasn't."

"Is that how you got your_____…_"

"Mask? No, not exactly. That came much later, and I'm glad for that. It gave me a chance to learn the difference between _his_ voice and _its_ voice."

"So how soon after you became a shinigami did you first hear it-his voice?"

"You won't believe me," I told her with a small grin. It felt good to talk to another being that wasn't inside my head. She just smiled at me encouragingly. I sighed. "The first time I heard my zanpakutō's voice with total clarity was before I became a shinigami. I heard whispers of his voice before the accident." Her face was pure shock. I sat staring at her trying to gauge her reaction.

"It's not possible for a living human to hear the voice of a zanpakutō. And for you to have heard his voice even after the accident is just- you hadn't been sent to Soul Society. You were still just a-"

"Good morning, Unohana-taicho, how is the subject doing?" I suppressed a shudder at this voice. I turned to see Kurotsuchi Mayuri. "Ah! So it is awake! That is good news, very good news. Well then, shall we take it to my labs now? I have a number of tests planned and I've been anxious to get started."

"I'm sorry, Kurotsuchi-taicho, but Yamamoto-sotaicho's orders are clear." I could not express the relief that washed through me when she recovered from what I told her and turned to her fellow captain. "She is to be brought to the Captains' Meeting Hall as soon as I release her. However, she is not yet ready to be released. She would not be able to bear standing in the presence of three vice captains for more than a few seconds in her current condition, much less the entire assembly the Captain-Commander has called. I will inform all of those involved when she is well enough. Now if you will excuse me, I need to tend to her wounds." I stared incredulously at Unohana. She was my hero. She shut Kurotsuchi down faster than he could blink!

"Very well then, I will leave you to your work." His eyes flashed to me. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before your patient become mine." The glint in his eye sent chills up my spine. I did my best to hold my ground as I stared straight back at him. His intrigue only seemed to increase as he turned and left. She smiled at his retreating back.

"Unohana-taicho," I frowned, "I don't feel _that_ weak."

"That's because you aren't. I thought that perhaps a little exaggeration would not hurt the situation. I have no intention to throw you to the wolves, if I can avoid it. I will have no choice if Yamamoto-sotaicho says that you are to be subject to Kurotsuchi-taicho's research, but if we do not feel the need to extract answers from you, then I don't believe that will happen."

"Answer questions truthfully; I can do that."

"Now then, about your zanpakutō_____…______…_"

"I_____…______…______…_I would rather explain it to everyone at once, if it's all the same to you, Unohana-taicho. It's a long story."

"Very well. There is, however, something important I am supposed to inform you of."

"Oh?" What could it be? I already knew a lot. I knew more than I should, in all honesty, not that she was aware.

"There are a number of us who are aware of the existence of 'Bleach'."

"Huh?" I blinked. Didn't they already know about that? I mean, I know that they wash their clothes with washing machines and stuff. "Okay_____…_" It didn't even make sense. What did that have to do with me?

"I think you misunderstand. What I mean to say is that we are aware of the story that you call "Bleach". Ben and Nick have informed us of it and now we are aware of the knowledge that you three have of us and of Soul Society."

_____…_

_____…______…_

_____…______…______…_

_____…______…______…______…_

"WHAT!" I tried to sit up again. It still didn't work. Unohana jumped at my sudden outburst and several nearby reiatsus flared cautiously.

"Please calm dow-"

"THOSE IDIOTS! DON'T THEY KNOW ANYTHING!" Rule #1 for paradox avoidance: NEVER tell the people of the universe that they are characters in a book, TV show, comic book, movie, video game, etc. What do they do? They tell the whole freaking **_Bleach_** world about everything!

"Calm yourself down, Jessica, please! If you are worried about our knowledge of these facts, then please relax. Only the captains and vice captains have been informed of this, and we are only aware that you know a great deal about us. We do not know anything from those stories other than what we ourselves have learned or experienced." I slowly stopped struggling and laid back.

"Still_____…_" I hadn't relaxed. I laid there tense. I was going to beat the snot out of those two. No, that would be far too lenient. I would beat the living snot out of them!

"Please just relax and let me finish looking over you. We can speak of this more later. For now, I need you to let me do my job and heal you." I laid there resigned and felt every muscle in my body unwind. I was in no position to argue, least of all with Unohana. She was the one member of Squad Four that had nearly every member of oh-so-tough-and-manly Squad Eleven scared shitless.

I closed my eyes as I began to hear her reiatsu fluctuate and ripple. I could feel little spirit particles move around my wounds as she closed and healed them. I grimaced to myself as I thought about what I had been failing to comprehend. After discovering my natural skill with kidō, and even more so after I was separated from Ben and Nick, I tried to learn the art of healing. I picked up several of the attack spells easily enough, and even managed a few defense spells with little difficulty, but I never even got close to understanding the mechanics of the healing spells. Maybe I would get a chance to learn. While I despise using kidō in battle, knowing the mechanics was invaluable. Just knowing kidō lets me control my reiatsu more easily, and therefor the parasite too. I learned shun-po from kidō, and then there's the issue of balance. My sword and I were like Yin and Yang. We existed in harmony with each other and were at our best when we were in perfect balance. I took our 'physical' form as the shinigami and he took the 'spiritual' form as the zanpakutō, but I was the one with the kidō skill and he was the sparring master. He told me flat out at one point that I would never be able to use him and his techniques perfectly if I didn't first perfect my own techniques. Unfortunately, that meant kidō. Although, given my sword's characteristics, being able to heal myself immediately after a battle might very well save my life one day. I would just have to suck it up and learn as much kidō as I could as quickly as possible.

"I understand that you wish to hold all questions until your, er, interrogation," Unohana's voice interrupted, "but I would like to ask you about your_____…______…______…_mask."

"What about it?" What could she possibly want to know that couldn't wait?

"I was wondering if there is anything that you can tell me about it that would help me heal you?"

Oh.

"I don't know what to tell you. I never figured out how to use any healing spells, so I don't know what sort of information would help you."

"Anything at all that you can tell me would be helpful."

"Um...well, it's kind of like a parasite. It lives off of me and my reiatsu. Because of that, I use it to help control my reiatsu and my kidō and to increase my strength and speed. That's about all there is to it. It doesn't make me heal any faster or slower, to the best of my knowledge."

"I see. Thank you. You may rest now."

"Unohana-taicho, I have a request."

"Yes?"

"Could you please remove the barrier?"

"The barrier?"

"Yes, the one around my zanpakutō. I have no intention of fighting or anything, but it feels strange to be so cut off from him."

She paused.

"Yes, I will remove the barrier for you." I could hear the slight hesitance in her voice. I would have to be careful to not give Unohana or any of the other Captains, for that matter, any more reason to not trust me.

As soon as I felt the barrier dissipate, pain crashed through me. I gritted my teeth so as to keep as silent as possible as I writhed on the bed.

"What's wrong?" asked a highly alarmed Unohana.

"J-jerk_____…______…_i-it's hi-im_____…______…______…_" I ground out through my clenched teeth.

_'WHAT IS GOING ON?'_

_'You just zapped every nerve in my body.'_

_'I'm sure you deserved it for something.'_

_'Thanks.' _I spat sarcastically. _'__You scared the crap out of Unohana.'_

_'Unohana? You mean the healer from the Fourth Division?'_

_'Yes, she's been taking care of me.'_

_'That would explain somethings.'_

_'Things? What things?'_

"Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine, Unohana-taicho. Removing the barrier caused a small reaction from him. It's nothing, though. It won't happen again." She grimaced slightly but began her work again.

_'What things?' _I pressed.

_'They bound you and then locked me in a barrier when I began to fight. I could feel that I wasn't making much of an impact on the barrier on my own, but then I felt a strange sensation.'_

_'What kind of sensation?'_

_'I do not know how to describe it. It put me at ease, though. I can only assume that it was Unohana healing you that I felt.'_

_'I guessed as much. She said that you calmed down when she started healing me. So here's a question for you: I couldn't feel anything from you when you were in that barrier, so how come you could feel me?'_

_'I do not know. It may have had something to do with the fact that I was still conscious.'_

_'Hey! I had to deal with Soifon, the parasite, **and** Yamamoto's reiatsu all within thirty seconds! You're lucky we aren't dead!'_

_'If you insist.' _That was his language for 'I'm tired of arguing with you. I'm right, now shut your face.' As much as I wanted to keep fighting, I held my tongue and brought up something else.

_'Unohana started asking me some questions about you.'_

_'What kind of questions?'_

_'She asked my why I call you 'him' or 'he' and not 'it' or something.'_

_'What did you tell her?'_

_'I told her the truth. That it's because you're a guy. What else was I supposed to tell her?'_

_'I do not know, I just do not like telling them everything.'_

_'Look, I know how you feel, really I do, but we have to. Either we tell them now, or we get put under Kurotsuchi's microscope and they find out _his_ way__.'_ I felt him shudder.

_'I suppose this is preferable. What else have you told her?'_

_'Not much. She told me that she already knows about my connection to Ben and Nick, and she knows about _**Bleach. **_I told her when I first heard your voice, and I told her about the mask, but I think that's it.'_

_'You told her you heard me?'_

_'Yeah, why not?'_

_'How many souls do you know of were able to hear their zanpakutō's voice before they became shinigami? Even Hitsugaya didn't hear Hyorinmaru's voice, and he is a child prodigy.'_

_'Yeah, but, um, I also mentioned the real first time I heard you.'_

_'Before the accident?'_

_'Yeah. She was more than a little shocked. But, it'll be easier to just be honest. Aizen is already after my hide, I don't need the Goutei 13 after me too.'_

_'I suppose I do not have much choice in the matter, now that you have your mind made up. I will help you where I can, but do not expect me to be happy with all of this.'_

_'When are you ever happy?'_

_'I can think of a few instances.'_

_'Any that don't involve mass destruction?' _

Silence. Meaning a great big resounding "NO!" from him. I chuckled to myself.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes, thank you, Unohana-taicho. I apologize for him, by the way. His natural reflex is to be on the offensive. He simply reacted on impulse when he felt the barrier dissipate."

"Then why did I not feel anything? I could feel his reiatsu flare, but you seemed to be in excruciating agony."

"A small detail about my sword."

"Then I will be patient and wait for the official questioning." I nodded my thanks. "Speaking of which, I believe you are ready to be released, after a little bit more rest, of course." She smiled sweetly at me. "Try to get some rest. You will need it if you are going to stand before ten captains and twelve vice captains. Do not worry though, we will all be suppressing our reiatsus, so it should not be too difficult." I smiled at her as she left. I dropped my head back onto my pillow with a groan. There was no WAY I was going to make it out of this in one piece.

…

* * *

…

"Kitty-chan! Kitty-chan!" I heard a bubbly voice yelling to me through my hazy sleep. "Kitty-chan! Wake up!"

"Hn?" I groggily opened my eyes to see vibrant red ones staring right back.

"Kitty-chan, wake up! It's time to go to the meeting!"

"Kusajishi-fukotaicho asked if she could escort you to the Captains' Meeting Hall," Unohana explained. She tried to suppress the smirk/smile that played about her mouth, failing miserably.

"Come **_on_**, Kitty-chan! It's time to go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" She shouted and pulled on my arm nearly ripping it out of the socket.

"I'm coming," I stood up to save myself at least some pain. I dully noticed that I was no longer bound to the bed.

"Let's go, Kitty-chan! I can't wait for you to meet every one! Ken-chan's excited!" Oh, joy_____… _I groaned internally at the idea. The thought of having Bishamon ranting in my ear about how much fun a fight with Zaraki Kenpachi would be was just-

"Ah! W-wait!" I turned back to face the bed and the empty table next to it. "Wait! Where's-"

"Re-chan already has your sword. Now come **_on_**!" I noticed that she began to get very frustrated with me, so I gave up struggling and just let the little pinkette drag me through hallway after hallway.

"Um, Yachiru?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not mad at me?"

"Nope! Ben-nii and Niki have told me lots about you! I didn't know it was you till they told me last night! I'm so glad to meet you! We're gunna be best friends!"

I just smiled as she continued to babble and drag me through the the halls. I realized after a moment or two that Unohana was no where in sight.

"Uh_____…______…______…_Yachiru, where are we?"

"We're going to the Meeting Hall, silly!"

"I know that, but where are we now?" I really did NOT need the Captains thinking I ran off because Yachiru got me lost.

"Hm_____…______…______…_" She stopped suddenly almost causing me to trip over her. "I _think_ we're in the Fourth Division still. Let's go_____…______…______…_this way!" she pointed in a random direction. With that, she grabbed my hand again and began dragging me all over the place. After a while, I felt a slight tugging at my mind. I quickly reached out to the source trying to locate it.

_'Where the hell are you? I'm stuck with Yachiru again! As much as I love the little pink-haired cutie, she's gunna get me lost and then the captains are gunna kill me!'_

_'Oh calm down. You are not that far from where we are now. I am sure you will figure something out.'_

_'I really hate you.'_

Just then, I felt something grab the back of my collar. I jerked to a stop and my hand slipped out of Yachiru's.

"Well, well, what is this?" The voice was strong, but had a slow drawl to it. I knew the owner of the voice without even needing to look.

"What is it, Shunsui?" came another voice. I recognized this one too, but not as easily as the first. It was pretty easy to guess though, considering who he was with.

"I found a little stray wandering around." I glanced back at the Eighth Division and Thirteenth Division Captains. I gulped.

"Hello there, little one. Are you lost?" I jumped. Ukitake spoke so gently to me that it caught me seriously off guard. They didn't know who I was. I knew they could tell that I was far from comfortable being in their presence because I heard their reiatsus shrink in pressure and volume, and change to a more soothing tone.

"Aw, you're scaring the poor girl, Juushiro." My eyes darted to Kyoraku as he snickered. I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I seriously doubt that I am the one she is scared of," Ukitake said smirking as he eyed Kyoraku's straw hat and pink kimono that he wore on top of his Captain's Haori.

"I-I-"

"Yes, my dear?"

"Kitty-chan!" The three of us jumped nearly a foot in the air. "There you are! Why did you stop? We're gunna be la-OH! Ukki! Shun-Shun!"

"Hello, Yachiru. Is this a friend of yours?"

"This is Kitty-chan! She's really cool! She's my new best friend!"

"Really? Well then, it's nice to meet you." Ukitake and Kyoraku smiled kindly at me.

"Isn't she pretty? We're gunna go play and-"

"Um, Yachiru? I don't mean to interrupt, but I _really_ don't want to be late for the meeting."

"Meeting?" the two captains asked in unison.

"Oh! That's right! We need to get to the Meeting Hall!"

"Yachiru, I don't think it's a good idea to bring your friend to the meeting."

"With all due respect, Kyoraku-taicho, I'm the subject of the meeting." Shock and realization dawned on their faces.

"Kitty-chan's special!" The bubbly girl continued to babble on about how she met me and what Ben and Nick had told her about me.

"We seem to have lost Unohana-taicho," I all but whispered to them. "Perhaps you could show us the way?" I gave them a sheepish smile, glad when they smiled back at me in understanding. Well, understanding and slight humor at my expense. Ukitake was trying to stifle a chuckle. emphasis on 'trying'.

"Of course. We're all going to the same place, so I don't see any reason why we can't all go together."

"Yay! Ukki and Shun-Shun are coming with us!" The two men smiled sweetly at the little girl and we all started off again. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the two old friends shared a look as we went on our merry way.

"Yachiru, would you like some candy?" Ukitake asked as he lengthened his stride. The change in his pace was so subtle that if I hadn't already been on my guard, it may have slipped my notice entirely.

"YAY! CANDY! CANDY!" Yachiru sang as she danced around the sickly captain. I immediately tensed when I felt a hand on my arm.

_'Careful______…_' my other half muttered in the back of my mind.

"May I have a quick word with you?" Kyoraku whispered in my ear. Our pace slowed down a bit so that we now lagged a little behind the other two.

"How can I be of service, Kyoraku-taicho?" I tried my best to seem at ease, but it wasn't easy considering the fact that I had two wary captains right next to me and my security blanket was far beyond my reach at the moment.

"Unohana-taicho has told you that we are aware of the knowledge that Ben and Nick have of us and of all of Soul Society; the knowledge that you supposedly have too, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then I would suggest using this knowledge for your own sake."

"Sir?" I whispered back. I was completely baffled. What was he trying to get at?

"It is in your best interest if you don't try to manipulate Kusajishi-fukotaicho in any way. The repercussions will undoubtedly be far beyond what you could possibly hope to withstand."

"With all due respect, Captain, you're nuts if you think I would risk pissing off Kusajishi Yachiru _and_ risk giving Zaraki Kenpachi an excuse to fight me. That is, assuming Soifon-taicho doesn't get to me first. I kinda get the feeling she doesn't like me," my voice dripped sarcasm. He just laughed.

"You're right," he chuckled. "It would seem you know how to keep your head at the very least."

"I have been on my own for a very long time, Captain. Now that I am finally released from my solitude, I don't wish to change that."

"It must have been difficult for you."

"Yes, it was. I ran into my fair share of_____…______…_'creatures', but they would hardly count as 'company'."

"I can't wait to hear the full story. It must be quite a tale."

"You have no idea," I muttered.

…

* * *

…

We were the last to arrive. Unohana was outside the Meeting Hall waiting for us. Luckily, I reminded myself to not reach out and grab my sword from her once I was within arms reach of her.

"There you are. I was starting to worry that you and Kusajishi-fukotaicho got lost."

"Don't be silly, Re-chan! She won't get lost as long as she's with me!" she beamed.

"Of course, of course," the woman beamed back.

"Hello, Unohana-taicho." Ukitake nodded his head and Kyoraku tipped his hat. "We seemed to have run into your girls on our way over, so we thought we would escort them."

"How kind of you. Well, shall we?" Unohana took Yachiru's hand as the huge doors opened and led her inside. As I started forward, I noticed Ukitake coming up on my left side and Kyoraku on my right, both matching my strides. They were both completely at ease, but still ready for anything. These two had very comfortable auras. They were both relaxed and laid back, but they knew when to be serious.

I walked into the center of the room and stood there. Yamamoto-sotaicho stood directly in front of me with his vice captain Sasakibe Chojiro standing behind him. Between my and the Commander was a pedestal with a strange orb on top of it. Unohana handed my sword over to Sasakibe who placed him on the ground beside Yamamoto. Ukitake and Kyoraku took their own places in the line up. On my right was Soifon-taicho and Omaeda Marechiyo-fukotaicho of the Second Division, Unohana Retsu-taicho and Kotetsu Isane-fukotaicho of the Fourth Division, Kuchiki Byakuya-taicho and Abarai Renji-fukotaicho of the Sixth Division, Kyoraku Shunsui-taicho and Ise Nanao-fukotaicho of the Eighth Division, Hitsugaya Toshiro-taicho and Matsumoto Rangiku-fukotaicho of the Tenth Division, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri-taicho and Kurotsuchi Nemu-fukotaicho of the Twelfth Division. On my left was Kira Izuru-fukotaicho of the Third Division, Hinamori Momo-fukotaicho of the Fifth Division, Komamura Sajin-taicho and Iba Tetsuzaemon-fukotaicho of the Seventh Division, Shuhei Hisagi-fukotaicho of the Ninth Division, Zaraki Kenpachi-taicho and Kusajishi Yachiru-fukotaicho of the Eleventh Division (I tried my hardest to resist face-palming right there in front of everyone when Yachiru waved at me), and Ukitake Juushiro-taicho of the Thirteenth Division. Needless to say, I was a little more than stressed.

"Now that we are all present," came Yamamoto's booming voice, "this meeting can commence. Speak your name." Yamamoto's question felt so robotic. I assumed that all of the captains already knew this and whatever else I would tell them before I actually began my story. This was just to review the facts and open the floor up to the real questioning.

"My name is Hanashi Jessica. I go by Jess for short."

"What is your age?"

"I was 18 when I died. I have lost track of how much time has passed since then."

"What are you?" I grimaced internally. This was a trick question.

"I say that I am a shinigami. However, there is evidence that would lead most to argue against that claim."

"Why do you mention the evidence against your claim?"

"I wish to be entirely honest, Yamamoto-sotaicho. I do not wish to be an enemy of the Goutei 13."

"Such an act is as brave as it is foolish." I didn't react. I had a habit of doing things like that. I could hear my zanpakuto begging me to think before I speak. "And perhaps just as wise. Is it true that you remember your human life?"

"Yes, Sir. Many details have begun to fade from my memory over time, but I remember the basics."

"Do you remember how that life ended?"

"Yes, Sir. I was with Ben and Nick. We all died in the 'accident'."

"Accident?"

"We've come to call it that, though it was hardly such."

"Very well. I believe everyone here is anxious to hear your story. The orb before you is a device that will convey your story to us with ensured truth. Place your hands on it and go through the events in question in your mind." I nodded and took a deep breath. I don't think I had ever been this nervous before.

_'Relax, girl, I will help you. I am your zanpakutō, I will help you in any way that I can.'_

_'Aw, you do care!'_

_'Do not push your luck.'_

_'Yessir!'_

We did our best to tune out all of the Captains and Vice Captains and their reiatsus, so that all I could hear was a light buzzing noise. I put my hands on the crystal ball and began my story.

_…_

_

* * *

_

_____…_

Another Haiku

for you my darling readers

please rate and review

_…_

___…_

_____…_


	3. LIFE

Here's Chapter 3! I want Feed Back!

This is the first chapter of the big epic back story/flash back

**DISCLAIMER:** If I owned Bleach, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing fanfics, I'd be writing in more parts for Kenpachi.

_

* * *

_

I opened my eyes only to shut them again. The bright light burned my poor retinas. I tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but my bed felt so hard and uncomfortable for some reason.

_'________…________…_wake_______…________…_'

"Jess? Jess! Wake up!" That was Nick's voice. What's he doing in my room?

"She's not dead is she?" Ben's here too? "Maybe you should smack her."

"No way, she'll smack me back! You do it."

"Imma smack bof uv ya if ya don shuttit," I slurred out. Honestly, did they have to scream like that?

"Oh good, now we don't have to bury you."

_'________…________…_awaken_______…________…_'

"Gimme an excuse, Ben, that's all I ask." Sure, we acted like we hated each other and stuff, but that's just how Ben and I acted. If an entire day went by without him calling me names or making jokes about me getting hurt, then I would think he was seriously mad at me or something. Ben would think the same if I went an entire day without threatening his life or well being.

"Ignore him, Jess. Can you open your eyes?"

"Yeah, but I'm not gunna as long as the sun's in my eyes."

"Well then cover your eyes. Nick and I are trying to figure out whether we've gone nuts or died."

"I can tell you guys right now that you're both nuttier than that giant peanut guy with the top hat and the monocle."

"Oh, ha ha."

_'________…________…_rise_______…________…_'

"Could you please just open your eyes and see what we mean?" Nick was my other best friend. We would all pick on each other about everything, but we weren't quite as violent with Nick. He was more laid back than me and Ben. He was also more of a thinker. All three of us were smart, but Ben usually played dumb so people wouldn't realize how smart he really was, and my attention span was so small that I really only acted as smart as I was when I wasn't being lazy and bothered to focus. Nick, on the other hand, would actually use his brain more often than not. He was always more likely to think things through than me or Ben.

_'________…________…_arise_______…________…_'

"Fine," I sighed and lifted my hand to block the sun from my eyes. My arm felt like it weighed a million pounds. I squinted carefully and looked around. We weren't in my room. "Why are we in the middle of the street in a city that I've never seen before?"

"Our question exactly."

"We both remember getting home after hanging out last night, and then going to bed. The next thing we know, we wake up here." Nick and Ben were both dressed in everyday clothes, thought they did look like they just rolled out of bed. I glanced down at myself and saw that i wasn't in the pajamas that I _knew_ I put on before I went to bed last night. The clothes we were wearing weren't even the ones we had worn yesterday. That would at least have made _some_ sense.

"Well, I guess the logical thing to do would be to figure out how we got here and where the heck 'here' is." Nick scratched the back of his head in a very 'anime' way as he spoke.

"Right," Ben sneered. "'Cause everything about this is just screaming 'logical'." Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the curb. I stood up and took a closer look at the buildings surrounding us.

_'________…________…_confusion_______…________…_'

"It looks like we're in a suburb-ish area," I told them. "The good news is that we're less like to get run over, trampled, or separated due to foot or street traffic." I bit my lip and continued. "The bad news is no major sites or tourist attractions means no easy access to information."

"Well isn't this just peachy..."

"But, with any luck we're in another country."

"Jess, why would that possibly be a good thing?"

"Yeah, there's a little thing you might have heard of. It's called a language barrier, and it might just cause us a little problem."

"You sure you didn't hit your head or something? You did take a long time to wake up." Nick seemed genuinely worried about me.

"Not to mention the fact that you still look like an irritable zombie freak." Ben just seemed more irritable than usual.

_'__________…__________…__________…________…________…________…________…________…_'

"A: I'm not a morning person. B: You're not so hot yourself, Princess Peach." Ben was seriously starting to bug me. Sure, he would say that kind of stuff to me all the time, but never with such a rude tone. Whatever his problem was, he needed to get over himself. "3-no wait-C: How I look right now is completely irrelevant. 4 or D:We're American. If we're in another country, we can play dumb American Tourist. All we have to do is make up some story about how we're lost and need directions to the nearest major city."

"Well, it's not the best plan ever, but it's the best we've got."

"I can't believe you two!" Ben snapped. We both jumped and stared at him. "You're acting like this is all real. It's not! It's physically impossible for us to have just randomly ended up in the middle of the street in some random city, much less in another country!" I resisted the urge to cover my ears with how loudly he was screaming at us. I didn't know what it was, but something was definitely wrong with his voice.

_'________…________…_aggression_______…________…_'

"Ben, calm down!" Nick yelled back. "You're right, none of this makes any sense. But this feels realer than any dream I've ever had!"

"Then maybe you've just gone nuts and you're hallucinating or something!"

"And what about you? Are we both having the same hallucination?"

_'________…________…_pain_______…________…_'

"Oh! Of course! That can't possibly be it, can it? No, we magically got transported to some random country! That's it!"

"Well I don't see you doing anything to help!"

_'________…________…fear________…________…_'

"There's nothing to help! None of this is real! It can't be!"

"Ben, I swear-!"

_'________…________…_fight_______…________…_'

"Guys, _Please_!" I couldn't take it any more. I screamed at them and clutched my head, covering my ears. They were screaming so loud I thought my ears were going to bleed. I didn't know why, but my ears felt so sensitive. Relief came quick, though. They must have been able to tell that I was in pain, because they were instantly silent. I looked up at them and they looked down at me. Neither one was mad anymore.

"Jess," Nick said in a soft voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so." My voice was equally soft as I slowly dropped my hands.

"Jess, I'm sorry." Ben grimaced in a way I had only ever seen on one or two other occasions. That grimace meant that he was pissed with himself for hurting me or letting me get hurt.

I was shorter than both of them by a fair amount. Nick was almost 6'1" and Ben was closer to 6'5", while I was a measly 5'3". I could fight, but only because I was scrappy. We had been friends since we were little kids, and they were like the big brothers I'd never had. We had wrestled and messed around with each other all the time when we were little, so I learned how to hold my own, but I was still a small girl. I had a petite, athletic build, so I wouldn't last long in a fight on my own. As a result, they were both really protective of me. Whenever I would get into trouble, no matter how often, they would be there to bail me out. We all looked out for each other. The only thing that pissed one of us off more than when someone hurt one of the others was when we hurt them.

_'__________…__________…__________…__________…__________…________…________…__________________…________…________…'_

"Forget about it, Ben. This is really weird and it's a lot to take in and accept." I was still mad at him for his attitude, but I couldn't stay mad for long. He had finally come to his senses, and he was probably beating himself up worse than I could. "I don't know what's going on or why, but if this is real, we need to do something. If this is just some bizarre dream, or hallucination, or we're all nuts, then we might as well enjoy things while they last."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, both of you. But, you know the saying: when life gives you lemons, make apple juice and let the world wonder how the heck you did it." Leave it to Nick to fix everything with a bad joke. We all laughed, more at how bad the joke was than the joke itself, but the tension in the air dissipated in seconds.

"Alright, so what now?"

"Should we go door to door?"

"We're not Girl Scouts. I mean, if you want to go dress up in a little skirt and baret, knock yourself out," I said to Ben. It was good to be back to normal. Well, as normal as we could get anyway.

"You know what? I think I will, thank you very much."

"I would like to avoid the mental scarring that seeing Ben in a skirt will cause me, so I think we should probably look for a store or shopping area. We need to figure out where we are and what language people speak around here." We nodded in agreement and he started down the street. Ben followed, but I didn't move. Something had been bugging me since I had properly woken up. Our voices sounded so strange. There had been something weird about what Nick just said, too. I understood the words, and they made sense, but they sounded weird. We all sounded like our accents had changed, or like we were talking through something.

_'________…________…________listen________…________…_'

"Hey!" I jolted out of my thoughts at Ben's call. I glanced up at him in time to see him chuckle at me. "Let's go, Shortie." He waved me over. My eyes widened. I replayed his words in my head along with how I saw his lips move. I brushed my fingertips over my lips.

"Guys, wait!" I felt my lips move. I heard the words come from my mouth. They didn't match! Ben and Nick stopped and looked at me. This was just getting weirder and weirder. Things were starting to click together in my brain, but I had to be sure. "Say something!" I commanded. They looked at each other and then back at me.

"Like what?" they asked simultaneously. I laughed. They looked at me like I was nuts.

"We're dubbed!" I giggled. This was too much.

"We're what?"

"Jess, what are you talking about?"

"Read my lips!" They looked at me like I had seven heads and purple skin. "When I speak," I said, exaggerating my lip movements, "my lips don't match the words that we are hearing. We are dubbed!"

"Nick, the midget has officially lost it."

"No, wait. I think she's right." He touched his lips. "Hello, testing, testing." He looked down at his fingers in amazement. "Ben, read my lips!"

"And you guys are always telling me how crazy _I_ am."

"We don't beat the living crap out of anything that catches out eye when we're pissed."

"No matter what you say, those flowers did not deserve _that_, Ben."

"Now would you just look? Humor us!" Ben leaned in close to Nick's face and watched as the other started talking about turtles and platypi. It took a while, but when Ben was finally able to keep from laughing long enough to look at Nick's lips and process what he was saying.

_'________…________…_discover_______…________…_'

"What the hell?" Ben jumped back. I winced when he screamed, but I couldn't help but giggle.

"We must be speaking another language," I said still giggling.

"Another language? Seriously?"

"It makes about as much sense as everything else, right now," Nick pointed out.

"So last night, something took us from our beds, changed our clothes, dropped us in the middle of the street somewhere far away, possibly in another country, and magically switched us from English to some other language? Yeah, that makes perfect sense."

"This is all like some bad fanfic or something," I laughed.

_'__________…__________…__________…________…__________…__________…________…________…________…________…_'

I stopped dead and froze.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Jess?"

"Fanfic."

"What?"

"Fanfic! A fan fiction! This is just like a fan fiction! I actually read one kind of like this! These two girls were crazy anime fangirls and this random guy walked up to them and gave them this anime magazine that had a map in it and it showed where different characters were on it and they both wished that they could meet their favorite characters from this one anime and it granted their wish and it sucked them in and teleported them into the anime and they-!"

"Jess!" Ben shouted and grabbed my shoulders. "Breathe, darn you, breathe!" he shook me.

"Seriously, you're turning blue. And you should probably stop shaking her now. You're going to give her whiplash." I took a deep breath when Ben finally let me go and calmed myself down.

"Now, what's all this about fan fictions?"

"It's like the one I was I was just telling you about!"

"But we didn't get sucked into a magazine," Ben put in. "And for the record, that idea was totally ripped off from Final Fantasy Tactics."

"It's got a good plot base, and the story wasn't as deep or cool as Tactics, but that's besides the point."

_'________…__________…__________…________…________…________…________…_'

I pushed the fuzzy, muffled sound to the back of my mind. I kept hearing it, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. I shook myself out of my musings and focused on what I was saying to Ben and Nick.

"Think: what random creepy thing happened to us last night?"

"We were abducted by some magical force thingy?

"No, well yes, but-That's not what I mean. What happened before that? Before we got home? When we were still hanging out and talking about the newest chapters of Bleach?"

"That guy! He asked us why we like anime so much."

"And if we would choose living in one of those worlds over our own."

"So that guy brought us here? He put us in an anime?"

"I don't know, maybe. He said something else too, though. Didn't he?"

"I think he said something along the lines of 'be careful what you wish for'. He definitely said that we would regret thinking that way."

"What was it that he muttered?"

"Huh?"

"He muttered something after we laughed," Ben reminded us. "We laughed when he said we would regret it, and then he mumbled something as he walked away."

"I remember that." I racked my brain. I knew that what he said hand make things seem even funnier at the time, but now I couldn't remember what it was.

_'________…________…_comrades_______…________…_'

"I think it had something to do with being heard. Well, about not being heard. He said how we weren't the first people to not listen to him. I just thought he was one of those "the end is near" nuts or something."

"So, what? We're in Bleach now?"

"It does sort of look like Karakura town."

"He never said anything about Bleach, though. He just said anime in general. Besides, if this is Japan, which we don't know for sure that it is, this looks like every suburb, town, and city street that's in a present day anime. We could be in Bleach, but we could just as easily be in Death Note, Inuyasha, xxxHolic, or even DragaonBallZ, or Yu-Gi-Oh. We could be in an anime that none of us has ever even heard of before."

"We might not be in a Japanese anime. This could be a Korean or Chinese anime."

"Or Canadian." They gave me another look. "What? Scott Pilgrim was a Canadian anime!"

"Anyway, we might not even be in an anime. It just happens that we're somewhere we don't know that looks like a Japanese suburb, speaking a foreign language, and last night we met this creepy guy who may or may not have had something to do with all this."

"Let's just play this by ear. We need to lay low for a while and figure things out. We should try to find jobs and a place to stay." A loud growling noise caught our attention. "But food first," Ben chuckled. I hugged my stomach and groaned as my hunger refused to be ignored. Nick ruffled my hair and we finally began our walk down the street.

_'________…________…_lost_______…________…_'

_______…___

_______________

* * *

…_

After some mindless wandering, we found a shopping area. My stomach only growled louder as my nose was taunted with all the wondrous smells coming from the different restaurants and food stalls. I could hear Ben's stomach start growling in harmony with mine.

_'__________…__________…________…________…________…________…________…_'

"Looks like we're in Japan after all."

"How do you figure?" Ben asked without looking away from the tantalizing treats.

"The writing on all of the signs is in Japanese."

"Well that's stupid." I grimaced at the Hirigana and Kanji.

"What do you mean?"

"The special magical force thingy made us speak Japanese, but we can't read Japanese. It's stupid."

"Wait, you can't read _any_ of it? I can read it just fine. What about you, Ben?"

"I want a pound."

"A pound?"

"Yeah, just get me a pound of whatever you're getting."

"Ben, we're not talking about food. Focus!"

"Can you read any of the signs?" He looked.

"As well I can read Greek or Elvish."

"Then why can I understand it?"

"Who knows? Who cares? Just get us some food!"

"What do they say? Anything helpful?"

"I think we're in Konohaakai town."

"Konohaakai?"

"Red leaves. Makes sense with all the Japanese maples around. Their leaves are red most of the year."

"Again, who cares? I want food!"

"We don't have any money."

"Stupid special magical force thingy!"

"Stop blaming it. Pointing fingers is not going to fix anything, Jess."

"No, but it makes me feel better." My stomach grumbled again. "Not that much better."

_'________…________…_weak_______…________…_'

"We need to find a way to get some money, or we'll be stuck trash picking for breakfast."

_'________…________…_weakness_______…________…_'

"Excuse me." We all stopped and turned to the little old man who had just walked up to us. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help over hear a little bit. My wife and I run this shop right here," he pointed to the snack shop we were standing in front of. "My nephew usually works for me, but he called in sick today. It wouldn't normally be a problem, but we just got a rather large shipment of some of our stock. I could use some help moving the boxes from the truck to the store room and restocking the shelves, if you're interested. I can't pay you very much, but I could give you enough to fill your bellies, and you can help yourself to the snacks free of charge."

"That's very kind of you, Sir-"

"Thank you!" I cried as I dove at the man and gave him a giant hug. "I can never thank you enough, kind sir!"

Ben smacked the back of my head and drug me off of the man and into the store. Three hours later, the shelves and our bellies were full and the boxes had all been moved from the truck to the back of the shop. We talked endlessly with the old man, Yamanaka-san, and his wife who insisted that we call her Keiko. They were a sweet old couple, and were very grateful for our help.

"You know," said Keiko, "Our friend owns a tea shop just down the street. She lives alone in one of the apartments above the shop. Her husband just died, you see. She's been planning on renting out the other apartments over the shop to help ends meet. I'm sure she would love to put you three up."

"That's right! And you could probably work for her too. She says she can handle it all on her own, but she's just a stubborn old woman. We could introduce you, if you'd like."

"That would be great! Thank you both so much!"

So, we met Nara Kyoko, who was more than glad to help us out. By the end of the week, we were all living comfortably in the apartments above and working in the tea shop below. We worked all day doing everything from making tea, and dango, and other tea foods to cleaning every nook and cranny of the shop to running errands on the other side of town. When Nick wasn't teaching us how to read our new language after work, we were trying to figure out which anime/manga we were in. One was highly successful, while the other seemed to be more of a waste of time every time we sat down together.

_'________…________…_alone_______…________…_'

Weeks turned to months, and we all fell easily into the swing of our new life. Eventually, we stopped caring what anime we were in, or that we were in an anime at all. Our memories of the mysterious stranger from the night before all this happened became a distant shadow in the back of our minds right along with most of the other details of our lives before Konohaakai. We remembered the basics, but not much else. Our lives were simple and we loved it. We made friends easily enough, and we acted like we had always lived this life. We even changed our last names. We vowed to stick together as friends and as siblings, so we became known as the Hanashi trio. Everything was going wonderfully.

Until the 'accident'.

We all went out to run an errand for Nara-san in the next town over. It wasn't very far, but it was far enough that we needed to drive. We were on our way home long after dark when it happened. We came up to an intersection to see a car sitting in the middle nearly torn in half. Ben pulled over and we all got out to investigate. Nick ran over to the car to check to see if the man was alive.

"What happened?"

"It looks like something tried to rip it to shreds."

"What's that smell?"

"He's dead." Nick pulled away from the man and the car. He was still buckled into his seat.

"It smells like something's rotting."

"I told you, he's dead."

"Corpses don't start smelling right away, it takes time. They don't start smelling till the start decomposing."

"Well what else could it be? I don't smell anything."

"Does he have a dead body in the trunk or something?"

"Guys! I man is dead!"

"She's right, we need to call the cops."

"Ugh." Ben groaned and covered his nose as he joined Nick in searching for a pay phone since we had yet to save up for our own phones.

_'________…__________…__________…________…________…________…________…_'

I spun around to face the empty road.

"What's wrong, Jess?"

"I thought I heard something." I was sure I had. I had heard some kind of whisper. I turned back to what was left of the car when I heard another whisper. This time I was sure I had heard someone inside the car. I ran up to the car and looked the man dead in the face. Poor choice of words. His eyes stared at the road ahead of him, but they were blank and lifeless. I heard the whisper again, louder this time, coming from the car. I pushed the electric un-lock button and pulled the back seat door open. Nothing and no one. I went back to the driver's seat and pulled the tab under the seat to pop the trunk open. Nothing and no one. I pulled the mat up out of the trunk to see the spare tire, car jack, and tire iron. The whisper came again. I stood and listened.

_'________…________…_help me_______…________…_' came a small voice. _'________…________…_monster_______…________…_' I spun around, searching for whoever had spoken. Nick and Ben were way too far away to have whispered right next to me like that, but there was no one else anywhere.

"Where are you?" I called out. "I can't help you unless you tell me where you are."

_'You________…________…_hear me_______…________…________…_? Please_______…________…________…_help me_______…________…_monster_______…________…________…_'

"What monster? Where are you?"

_'RUN!'_ I jumped at the deeper, louder voice that followed.

"Jess! What's going on?"

"Are you alright? We heard you yelling."

"I heard a voice. It was just a whisper, but I heard it. I thought it was coming from the car, but there's nothing-" I stopped and turned to Ben who was now doubled over and gagging, trying to keep from throwing up. "Ben?"

"That smell!"

"What smell? Ben, there is no smell! The two of you! I understand it's not easy seeing a dead body, I'm freaking out too, but you guys are having break downs."

"No, Nick, there's something else. Before you guys came over, I heard another voice, a different voice. I've been hearing this voice for a while."

"What voice?"

"Don't look at me like that, Nick, I'm not insane. I first started hearing it when we woke up in the street. I couldn't really make out much, and I barely noticed it. It was just there. I could hear him better when we all got really excited or happy or upset, but I could never hear more than a single word. Sometimes I'd just hear the sound of his voice, but I wouldn't be able to understand any of the words. But, just now, I heard his voice."

"Him?"

"Yeah, it's a guy's voice."

"What did he say just now?"

"It was the first time I've heard him this clearly. It still sounded like he was far away, but I heard him. He only said one word this time."

"Jessica." Nick walked up to me and grabbed my shoulders. I looked up into his eyes and I knew he could see how scared I was. "What did he say?"

"'Run'."

We all jumped again when our car flipped onto its side. We just stood there staring for a while, not sure what to do.

_'__________…________…________…__run________…________…________…________…________…________…_monster_______…________…_'

"Where are you?" I broke away from Nick and shouted to the weak voice. "What monster?"

"Jess!"

"The voice I heard from the car, I just heard it again." We turned and ran to Ben when he finally lost the fight and his lunch. I wrapped my arms around him to try and support him as he collapsed.

"Holy shit, that smell. How can you two not smell that?" He asked us weakly. Now we knew it wasn't just the shock of seeing a dead body. Ben was a tough guy who could handle just about anything. Now he melted into a pile on the curb, his face a chalky, sickly green color. Our attention snapped back to our car once again as it made a horrible 'nails-on-the-chalkboard' sound that had me gripping my head in agony. I looked up when the sound stopped to see our car had been mangled.

"What's happening?" I always tried to put up a tough front so Nick and Ben didn't think I was helpless, but I didn't care now. My voice and my hands shook like leaves in a hurricane.

"I don't know." I could hear the fear in Nick's voice too.

_'________…________…________…________…_Jess_______…________…________…_run_______…________…________…________…_must_______…________…________…_away_______…________…_' It was the deeper voice again. I was starting to snap now.

"Who are you! What do you want!"

_'________…________…________…________…_Jess_______…________…________…________…_safe_______…________…________…_I_______…________…_you_______…________…________…________…________…________…_hear_______…________…________…________…_' He sounded so far away. The other voice had sounded like it was right next to me, but this one sounded like he was calling to me from far away, or like he was trying to talk to me over some other loud sound.

I ran back over to the man's car and the boys followed.

"Jess, what are you doing?"

"We need to get out of here."

"Jess, look at Ben, look at the car, look at our car. Something is going on here and we need to get out of here NOW!" I didn't listen to them. I yanked the car door open and wrenched the seat belt off the man's body. Whatever was happening had something to do with him."Jess-"

"Nick, look." Ben's voice sounded only slightly stronger than it had a moment ago. "Nick, his chest- That wasn't cause by a car accident."

"It looks like he was mauled by a tiger." My words came out barely louder than a whisper.

"No," Nick could no longer hide his fear. "Tiger claws couldn't leave cuts like that. They're too wide, too deep. This was something else, some kind of monster."

"But why'd it only hurt his chest? it didn't touch his face."

_'________…________…_Jess_______…________…_'

"Forget that, why is the seatbelt still in one piece? If he was slashed across the chest while he was buckled in, then why wasn't the seatbelt cut?"

_'________…________…________…_Jessica_______…________…________…_'

I froze.

It finally dawned on me that the deep voice knew my name. He hadn't used it before now. I only ever heard one word at a time, and it always felt like an after thought. Now, it was easier to hear.

"Jess?" I snapped back to reality and looked at a worried Ben.

"I'm fine, I just- that voice, the one I keep hearing..."

"What's it saying?"

"My name. He keeps saying my name and something about running."

"Guys, I think I finally figured it all out. We need to get away from here NOW."

"But the guy, he-"

"There's no time! We have to g-" Ben and I stared in pure shock as Nick went flying. I felt my stomach lurch when I heard bones snapping and flesh tearing. We stood, too scared to move, staring at the giant claw marks that had appeared on Nick's side.

"But there's nothing there! There was nothing there to-" I couldn't finish. I tore away from Ben and ran to Nick's mangled form. I collapsed next to him, placing both of my hands on his chest, searching for a heart beat. It was there, but it was fading. I scooped up Nick's head and cradled it, gently rocking back and forth and whispering to him that it would be okay. I was only fooling myself.

"Holy- Jess! Run!" I looked at Ben in time to see him fly in the opposite direction, just as bloody and mangled as Nick. I could hear my own heart pounding in my head, and I swore I heard Nick's and Ben's hearts too. I sat there. There was nothing else to do. I listened as the two heart beats aside from mine steadily faded away, leaving me alone.

But I wasn't alone.

I stared dead ahead of me. That's where it was. The thing that had killed that man and Nick and Ben. I knew it was there because I could hear it. I heard it's footsteps as it slowly came to me. I heard it's breathing as it got closer to it's prey. I heard it's chuckles as it claimed it's victory.

_'__________…__________…__________…delicious__________…__________…can't wait__________…__________…eat________…__________…little one…__________…__________…' _This voice was new. It came from the same place as the footsteps and the breathing and the chuckles. It was that thing.

"Then stop talking and eat me" I told it.

_'________…________…________…________…are you _afraid_______…________…________…darling little _morsel_______…________…________…?__________…__________…_'

"I'm not afraid. My fear left with my brothers."

_'________…________…________…________…________…________…you not__________…__________…_for your _______life?________…__________…_do_______…________…________…not fear _death_______…________…?__________…_'

"I'm not afraid of death and I'm not afraid of you."

It chuckled.

_'________…________…________…________…_death_______…______________________…_coming_______…________…________…________…________…' _His voice was louder this time, like it was closer. I was relieved to hear it after the bone chilling sound of the monster's voice.

_________________________'What?'_ I asked the voice. The soft, scared voice had gone, just like all the other voices. I had always refused to admit it before, but _his_ voice was not the only one I had heard. From the time I woke up in that street, I began hearing voices and sounds. I always brushed them aside, telling myself they were coming from the market place, but it was a lie. I always knew what voices were from the market place and which ones were different. I was the only one who could hear those voices. The voices of the dead. This voice, _his_ voice, was different from all of them. It never faded away like the others, and it never sounded the same as the others. No, _his_ voice was very much alive. It was probably more alive than mine.

_'________…__________…__________…__________…__________…__________…__________…__________…__________…__________…__________…________…________…________…________…'_

_________'What? What do I do? Tell me.'_

_________'________…________…________…stand________…________…________…________…________…tall________…________…________…________…________…brave______…________…________…________…________…________…________…victorious…________…________…________…________…'_

So I did. I forced my legs to move and obey. I stood up and faced the monster. I stood tall. I stood brave. I stood victorious.

_'________…________…________…time for you to die______________________…______________________…time for me to eat________…________…________…'_ The monster's voice.

_________________'What are you doing?'_ Ben's voice.

_'Jess! Run!'_ Nick's voice.

_'________…________…wait________…________…'_ His voice.

It was there.

_________________'You've got to get out of here now!'_ Ben.

_________________'________…________…stay________…________…'_ Him.

I could hear it.

_________________'It's going to kill you!'_ Nick.

_________________'________…________…die________…________…'_ Him.

I heard its footsteps as it slowly came to me.

_'Now Die!'_ It.

_'________…________…stand________…________…'_ Him.

I heard its breathing as it drew closer to its prey.

_'Jess!'_ Ben.

_'________…________…die________…________…'_ Him.

I heard its chuckling as it claimed its victory.

_'Run!'_ Nick.

_'________…________…victory________…________…'_ Him.

A premature victory.

"I die on my terms."

I heard the air whoosh as it swung whatever clawed limb it had at me.

I didn't close my eyes.

I didn't blink.

I didn't flinch.

I didn't fear death.

I was in control.

I stood tall.

I stood brave.

I stood victorious.

I died.

* * *

_____________________…_

Jess, Ben, and Nick too

are dead at this chapter's end.

Care to share your thoughts?

_____________________…_

_______________________________________…_

_______________________________________…_  



	4. DEATH

Has anyone else noticed that each chapter starts with Jessica waking up? I just noticed that. Don't worry, it won't continue too much. It's just that those spots are the best for cliffys (or is it cliffies?)

Anywho, I hope you guys are enjoying the rewrite. My plan for the future of the story is a very general and open plan, so if you guys have ideas, feel free to send them.

**DISCLAIMER:** To own Bleach would be a dream come true! Sadly, I'm stuck in the waking world.

* * *

Death was something that was always so close and yet so far. I was one of those people who like to live life like I was going to die tomorrow. But I never expected to die tomorrow. I didn't want to die. Until the end.

Being dead never frightened me.

Being alone scared me.

Being forgotten terrified me.

I died.

Now I'm dead, but I'm not alone or forgotten. Ben died. Nick died. Now we can keep our promise and stay together.

I groaned and rolled over. I groaned again when my action was accompanied by an annoying high pitched tinkling sound. Through the haze that surrounded my mind, I vaguely noticed that I was being shaken. I could hear voices, but it sounded like I had cotton in my ears.

_'__…_…Jessica…_…_'

That was the other voice. It was much clearer than the other voices through the cotton, and much clearer than it was before- when I was alive.

_'__…_…Jessica_…__…_…not the end_…__…__…_…awaken……_'_

I wasn't entirely sure why, but I decided to listen to the voice again. Last time he had gotten me killed.

I tried to push my way through the thick fog I was drowning in. After a while, I noticed that the hand that was shaking me was getting stronger. I focused on that.

"Jess! Jess, please! Wake up!"

"Why is she always the last to wake up?"

"We were awake the whole time."

"Still."

I groaned and tried to pry my eyes open. It didn't work. After a few more minutes of groaning and being shaken, I managed to peel my eyelids apart. Ben and Nick were both leaning over me, worry written all over their faces.

"Loud_…_" I muttered. The cotton in my ears disappeared. Now it felt like the whole city was screaming in my ears.

"Jess?" I winced. "Sorry," Nick whispered.

"Are you alright?" Ben caught on and whispered too. I opened my mouth to reply, but decided against it. Even my own mutter had hurt my ears and head. I shrugged instead.

"Wh-" I held up my hand to stop him. My hand felt like a lead weight, but it wasn't too unbearable. I closed my eyes and took a moment to focus on what I could hear. Everything was so loud. I popped my ears and tried to relax. The noise gradually grew quieter and the pain began to fade. I opened my eyes again when I no longer felt the need to shove a screwdriver into my ear to stop the noise.

"I think I'm okay now." I didn't whisper, but I did speak softly. I opened my eyes and smiled up and my brothers. I sat up, but didn't stand. They just sat down next to me. I could see that we were still sitting in the same intersection where it all happened. It was strange and refreshing to see them both unharmed. After what that thing had done to them-

"Jess? You there?" I jerked away from my thoughts and looked at Nick. "Did you hear me?"

"No, sorry, what?"

"I asked if you remember what happened." I thought.

"I remember we drove up to the intersection and saw the car with the guy. Then I heard those voices and Ben got sick and-" I stopped, clamping my eyes shut in an effort to stop the next memory. It was a failed effort.

"And?"

"It killed you two." I opened my eyes. "It killed you and then it killed Ben."

"What happened after that, Jess?" Ben spoke barely above a whisper. "Do you remember?"

"I-yes. Yeah, I remember hearing you, both of you. You told me to run. I heard you, and the monster, and-"

"And?"

"I heard him. He told me what to do." I listened carefully, but I couldn't hear his voice anymore.

"We knew you heard the monster, you responded to it. But, Jess, who else did you hear? That voice you told us about?"

"Yeah. I asked him what to do and he told me."

"He told you to stand there and let that thing kill you?"

"And you listened?"

"Since when do you give up?"

"Since when do you do as your told?"

"What was I supposed to do? I wouldn't have lasted five minutes on my own, even if I did have Kyoko-san. We promised to stay together."

"So you died?" I didn't answer. I just crossed my arms and pouted. For whatever reason, they refused to see things my way. Ben started pacing and I noticed the same tinkling sound from earlier. I looked over at him and found the source. A chain. There was a chain coming out of his chest. I looked over at Nick and he had one too. I let my eyes drop to my own chest and saw the same thing. We were all dead. We were all souls.

"So I guess that answers that question," I grumbled. They both looked over at me and I flipped my chain to show them what I meant.

"Yeah," said Nick, "I figured it out right before that thing got me. I thought from the beginning that we were most likely in Bleach since that's what started this whole thing. Then the invisible monster showed up and I eventually figured out it was a hollow."

"So what happened to it? Shouldn't it be trying to eat us right now?"

"It's dead," Ben jumped into the conversation. "Right after you- it got you, a shinigami showed up. We didn't know who he was, but he fought the hollow. He killed it, but it did a number on him. He died not long after. He tried to send us all to Soul Society before he died, but…"

"We told him to send you first, but he said he couldn't unless you were conscious, so we decided that if you woke up before he died, we'd all go together, but we wouldn't go until after he sent you."

"Really?"

"Of course! Do you really think we'd leave you?" I smiled at them. I was so lucky to have the two of them.

"So," I started, "What do we do now? Do we wait for another shinigami to come along? Three souls wandering around together is bound to attract some seriously unwanted attention."

"Well we can't really do anything without a shinigami sending us to Soul Society, but if we just wait we're either going to turn into hollows or get eaten by them."

"This is so bothersome," Ben mumbled. "I say we fight. If a hollow shows up, we'll kick its ass."

"And what happens if one of us becomes a hollow?"

"The first question we need to ask is 'how do we avoid it'. Turning into a hollow takes roughly a year, depending on the length of the soul's Chain of Fate. It's the chains that keep the souls bound to their unfinished business in the world of the Living."

"What kind of unfinished business?"

"Anything from protecting loved ones or places that were important to the soul, to getting revenge on someone. Orihime's brother stuck around to protect her."

"Yeah, and then when he got turned into hollow, he went after her."

"That's because souls have limited contact with the living, so they can easily become obsessed with who or what they're bound to."

"Well, we don't have anything that we're bound to, so where does that leave us?"

"How much time do we have?" We glanced down at our chests. The chains hung down to our knees. I smiled, trying my hardest to not let them see what I noticed about my chain and spoke up.

"Our chains are pretty long, so we should have a good amount of time as long as nothing happens to speed up the process. But look at the difference in our chain."

"What difference?"

"The last link in the chains of every soul in Bleach is a half link. It's where the chain broke from the body and where the hollow transformation begins. The chain erodes from the break point until it creates a hole in the soul. Our last links are whole chain links."

"That's weird. Why are they like that?"

"Because we **are** bound to something," Ben said with a grin. "Jess let that thing kill her so she could be with us, and we refused to pass over without Jess. We're bound to each other. We only had each other when we were alive, so we're bound to each other now that we're dead. If we stick together and look out for each other, then we should be OK."

"But what about the negative emotions?"

"We won't need to worry about that as long as we stick together."

"Yes we will," I said with a sigh. "You guys are my big brothers and you watch out for me. You look after each other too, but you're more likely to jump to my defense than each other's. If you guys focus on protecting me, you could start to lose track of protecting each other."

"She's right. We could end up attacking each other trying to protect Jess, or turn into hollows because of it. Here's what we do. We'll all help each other focus. If one of us starts to focus on one sibling more than the other, we point it out. If one of us starts to get overcome by negative emotions, we point it out and help them calm down. On the up side, maybe the full link means we have more time."

"So what happens if we get attacked by a hollow?"

"I think Ben had the right idea. If we meet a hollow, there's no way we're going to be able to out run it. We should find a way to fight them."

"How?"

"We can try the basics, but kicks and punches will only get us so far." Then Nick stopped. He stood there looking at me for a minute.

"What?" He didn't answer. He just looked over at Ben before looking back at me. But he wasn't really looking at us, he was looking at some invisible thing around us.

"Nick, what are you doing?" He still didn't answer, he just kept looking back and forth.

"Nick?"

"Do you guys see that? Tell me you see that!"

"Ow! Could you please watch your volume, Nick?"

"Sorry," he said only slightly quieter.

"See what?" Ben looked around, but saw nothing. "Nick, there's nothing there."

"Yeah, you're absolutely right. I'm not seeing anything just like you didn't smell anything and Jess didn't hear anything. You said you smelled something rotting, right? But you didn't smell it until we got out of the car where the hollow was. And, Jess, you said you could hear us after we had died. You heard us and the hollow."

"And that other voice too, the one I heard when we first got out of the car. I guess it was the voice of the guy who died. The hollow must have eaten him before it killed us."

"Right, but you heard things you shouldn't have been able to hear, and Ben smelled something he shouldn't have been able to smell. Now I'm seeing something neither of you can see, that I probably shouldn't be able to see."

"What do you mean?"

"Jess, did you ever hear other sounds? Not voices, but other sounds that shouldn't have been there?"

"Yeah, sometimes. I'd just ignore it and blame it on my imagination, though. Why?"

"What do you hear right now?"

"Nothing, really, just our voices." Then I remembered something. "But, before the hollow got me, I could've sworn I heard your hearts beating. Well, before they stopped."

"Are you sure you don't hear anything strange or different now?"

"Like?"

"I don't know, like…like…" He looked to Ben for help who only shrugged. I sighed and closed my eyes, listening carefully for anything out of the ordinary.

"I hear a humming, it's like a humming sound. It sounds like a generator running or something." I kept my eyes closed and listened harder. "I think I can hear something else too, but-"

_'__…_…l_…_…en_…_…'

"But what?"

"I-I don't know. It sounds really far away."

"See if you can make it out."

_'__…_…lis…en_…_…'

"I-I think I can hear that voice again, the one that told me what to do."

"What's it saying now?"

"I think he's telling me to listen, but I still can't really make it out. It's probably nothing," I concluded and opened my eyes.

"No, Jess, don't give up. Keep trying." Nick reached out and covered my eyes.

"See if you can talk to the voice. Ask it what you're supposed to listen to." I sighed, but did what they said.

_'Hello? Are you there, freaky mystery voice? Am I supposed to listen to something? What am I supposed to listen to?'_

_'__…_…listen…_…_'

_'To what?'_

_'__…_…life_…_…'

_'How?' _I could hear his voice again. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I could hear his voice again and it was much clearer than when I was alive. I couldn't help but feel a little relieved. For whatever reason, that voice and who ever it belonged to were important. I didn't know why, but they were.

"Anything?"

"I think he told me to listen to life."

"What the heck does that mean?"

"Beats me. Why is this all so important, Nick?" I tried to pull my head back to open my eyes, but he kept his hand over them.

"Hang on, just try one thing, I want to see if this works. Keep your eyes closed and tell me if you hear that buzzing noise get louder or if you hear any other noises." I nodded and waited.

Nothing.

"Nick-" I groaned. This was stupid and getting us nowhere.

Then I heard it.

I gasped and pulled away, leaping back as far as I could while still sitting. I sat there and stared at Nick.

"What- Jess, you alright?"

"What? What did you hear?"

"It-I-I don't know what it was. It was just loud, just noise. But i-it came from Nick."

"What do you mean 'it came from Nick'?"

"I mean the sound I heard came from right where Nick is. It sounded weird, though, different. It didn't sound like our voices. It sounded like-"

"Like the sounds and voices did when you were alive?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Nick, what's this all about?"

"I look at you guys and I can see this kind of aura thing around you. It just kind of looks like light at first, but if I focus it has a tint of color to it." He looked down at his hand and grimaced. "But I can't see anything around me."

"So our senses are all out of whack?"

"No, I don't think so. My sight is the only thing that seems different. What about you guys?" He looked at me and I just shrugged. Nothing else seemed weird or different. We looked over at Ben.

"What?"

"Your sense of smell is whacked out, right? Anything else?"

"I think you guys are nuts. I don't smell anything now."

"Maybe cause there's nothing to smell. I think I can see reiatsu, and Jess can hear it."

"So I can smell reiatsu? That's stupid! Nick, I get that things are weird with us being in Bleach, but now you're just jumping to conclusions."

"But that's what Jess heard. I flared my reiatsu and she reacted."

"It actually really makes sense. If Nick didn't try to flare his reiatsu, I wouldn't have noticed anything more than a hum. We're just normal souls, normal pluses, so our spiritual pressure is really weak. But, you said you smelled something rotting when we were near the hollow. You must have smelled its reiatsu."

"Did you hear it's reiatsu?"

"I don't know. There was a weird undertone that I heard when it spoke, that might have been it. But if I can hear reiatsu, then I might have been hearing it differently. Instead of just hearing it, I heard the voices. They were the voices of souls, so maybe I could hear the voices better depending on how strong the person's reiatsu was. I heard the hollow clearly. Well, more clearly than I've heard anything else like that."

"So we can see, hear, and smell reiatsu."

"So what do we do with these oh so mystical powers of ours?" It was a fascinating discovery, but how did it help us?

"I don't know," Nick admitted. "I brought it up cause I kept seeing that weird light around you guys, and then with what happened with the hollow I wanted to figure out what was going on."

"We can at least hunt down a shinigami or some human with a high reiatsu to help us out. We could probably find Karakura town."

"Maybe we can learn to fight." We looked over at Ben. "Maybe we can sense reiatsu so well because we have natural skill or something. I bet it has something to do with the mystery guy we talked to our last night in our world. He sent us here for a reason, and I know it wasn't to prove a point about 'being careful what you wish for' or any of that crap."

"You think we could train ourselves to fight hollows?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Alright. How about we search for Karakura town and train as we go?"

"Sounds like a plan."

We headed down the street and back to Konohaakai town. We walked along in silence, each of us testing out our new 'abilities'. Ben was right, we were there for a reason. We didn't know what it was just yet, but we would make sure we were ready for it.

* * *

Time passed and seasons changed. We didn't know how long we had been dead, but we could estimate by the seasons and how quickly our chains deteriorated. We trained as best we could and actually managed to improve. Nick said he could see more color around us and Ben learned our scents. I seemed to be the slow one. My hearing improved a bit, but not enough that it made any kind of difference. I still just heard a toneless hum when I listened to their reiatsus. They brushed it off saying that it was because they were still so weak, but I knew better. They had both gotten faster and stronger. I was still just the scrappy little sister. We ran into the occasional hollow, but nothing terrible. We worked together and dealt with it quickly enough. It was a while before we managed to actually kill one. All the others ran away after we wounded them. We began to worry when stronger hollows began showing up.

"I think it's because we're getting closer to Karakura town."

"Or maybe because we're getting more appetizing."

"Either way, this is getting dangerous. We need to find a shinigami, time's running out."

"I think we're still ok for a while, Nick." I smiled at him, trying to get him to lighten up. He and Ben both seemed to be getting more and more stressed lately.

"No, Jess, we're not. You keep trying to act like nothing's wrong, but you noticed and we noticed and we can't just do nothing!" I sighed. I thought I had been hiding so well too.

"Nick, stop. We can't do anything. My chain isn't _that_ short, so don't worry about it." Our chains had all started hanging down to our knees. The only problem was that the length from my chest to my knees is much shorter due to my lack of hight. They were taller. They had more chain. They had more time.

_'__…_…time_…__…_…run_…__…__…_…out_…_…'

"Jess, our chains only go down to our waists now," Ben put in. "Nick and I still have some time, but you don't have as much. We need to hurry and find a shinigami before you run out of time."

"Fine! We'll look harder for a shinigami! I just don't want you guys to worry yourselves into hollows."

"Relax, Jess, we're not going anywhere any time soon."

From then on, things got steadily worse. Nick started getting stressed and worried about me and Ben got irritable. I trained harder than ever, hoping it would help them relax at least a little bit. No such luck. I tried to stay calm to be the voice of reason, but it didn't last when their chains started deteriorating faster than mine. At the rate they were each going, we would have turned hollow around the same time. The idea of sticking together didn't help the situation in the least. All of us were still hole-free, so we weren't too upset, but I knew that all the negative emotions were definitely speeding up the whole process.

Just when I was ready to give up hope and Nick and Ben were ready to start ripping each other's hair out, it happened. The biggest hollow we had seen yet found us in the middle of the night. We had camped out in the park of the city we had just blown in to. We didn't care about the cold or how hard the benches were because it didn't really matter now that we were dead.

I was the first to wake up. I heard something and bolted awake. Ben was up a second later and Nick a few seconds after that.

"What're you guys getting?"

"I heard something. It sounds big."

"It's a hollow. It smells like a walking morgue with a broken cooling system."

"Lovely."

"You see anything, Nick?"

"Yeah, it's a faint glow, but it looks like a giant shadow."

Giant was an understatement.

_'__…_…death_…_…'

_'Look! If you're not gunna tell me anything helpful then shut up! This one's going to be hard to take care of.'_ I had grown accustomed to hearing his voice now. I stopped telling the guys about it because it didn't really seem important anymore. Sometimes he would be helpful and others he would just be annoying.

_'__…_…not run_…__…_…kill_…_…'

_'What do you mean 'not run'? Of course I won't run.'_

_'__…_…hollow…_…__…_you_…__…__…_…kill_…_…' I thought for a moment, trying to decipher what he was saying.

_'The hollow won't run away if we hurt it. We'll have to kill it before it kills us, won't we?'_

_'__…_…yes_…_…'

I grit my teeth and stood next to my brothers as we prepared for the first big fight of our after-lives. When the hollow finally came into full view, I almost mistook it for a Menos Grande. It towered over us.

"Well, don't you three just look delectable!" it sneered and licked its lips. "Won't you join me for dinner?" We didn't respond. We just stood our ground, hoping and praying that we would be able to survive.

The fight itself was all a blur. The three of us dashed around the beast, striking it where we could, and dodging the swipes of its huge clawed hands. The next clear thing I can remember is lying on the ground wounded, watching Ben trying to overpower it. Nick had been knocked clear across the park, and was running back to the fight as quickly as he could manage on his now hurt leg. It tossed Ben aside after a moment and turned to scoop up Nick as he ran over. In the blink of an eye, Nick was twenty feet above the ground being crushed in the hollow's grip. Ben and I watched helpless as Nick struggled in vain to escape.

"Oh, don't worry. Your little friends will be joining you soon enough." With a flick of its wrist, Nick was thrown up into the air before plummeting down to the monster's waiting jaws.

It happened so fast I almost missed it.

Nick's eyes gleamed in anger and determination and his reiatsu shot up. In the next second, Nick landed safely on the ground. His chain had vanished, a sword appeared in his hand, and the two halves of the hollow's mask slid apart where it had been sliced. None of us moved as the giant creature dissolved in the background. The stillness was finally broken when Nick groaned and collapsed. Ben and I clambered to get up, ignoring the pain from our open wounds, and rushed over to our brother. I could clearly hear the humming of his reiatsu, but it had a different tone now. It almost sounded like a hissing sound.

"Nick? Nick! Wake up, man!" He only groaned.

"Nick, you killed the hollow! You're a shinigami!"

"Wh-wha-?"

_'__…_…West_…_…'

_'What?'_

_'__…_…West_…__…__…_…brother_…_…'

_'What are you talking about? I don't understand.'_

_'__…_…blade_…_…' I looked down at the sword Nick still held tightly in his hand. I grimaced. There was no time to worry about the sword, we had to take care of Nick first. I pushed the voice to the back of my mind where I couldn't hear him and gently pried the blade from Nick's hand.

"Ben, help me get him over to one of the benches." He nodded and grabbed Nick's left arm, slinging it over his shoulders before hoisting him up off the ground. I was too short to do the same, so I took his other hand and put it on my shoulder so he could use me as support and wrapped my arm around his waist to help steady him.

"Wh-what h-happen-?"

"You killed the hollow, Nick."

"H-how?"

"You're a shinigami now. You sliced it clean in half with your zanpakutō."

"Z-zan-?"

"Just rest up, Nick. We'll explain everything when you wake up." He didn't need telling twice. His eyelids dropped like lead weights. As carefully as we could, we set him down on the nearest bench to sleep. Ben and I plopped down on the ground and leaned back against the bench.

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. "Does he smell different to you? Cause I think his reiatsu sounds a little different."

"A little. It's not different so much as it's stronger. I can really identify it now, not just know that it's Nick's scent."

"What does he smell like?"

"Fall."

"Fall?"

"Yeah, Autumn. I don't really know how to explain it, but you know how when you open the door and you get a whiff of that smell and you just know that it's Autumn?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"That's what it is."

"Huh. Weird." We lapsed back into silence as Ben kept an eye and a nose out for any more hollows and I let myself drift away into my thoughts.

Nick was a shinigami. He had become a shinigami. It was uncommon for people in the Rukongai to get a zanpakutō on their own without going to the Shino Academy. Aside from Ichigo, I didn't know of any cases where pluses went right to shinigami. The only reason he was able to make the jump was because he had been a shinigami before and he knew that he was supposed to become a shinigami again. On top of that, his father was a shinigami, and it took him nearly becoming a hollow to get him to his inner world. Yet, Nick became a shinigami and killed that hollow. Maybe Ben had been right when he said that our super senses meant we had great potential. Maybe he could become a shinigami too. Maybe I-

"Jess! What are you doing!" I snapped out of my thoughts so fast I thought I got whiplash. Before I could figure out what was going on, Nick's sword was ripped from my hands. I sat there for a second blinking stupidly.

"Wha-?"

"What were you thinking?"

"What? Ben-"

"Why would you play with the blade of a friggin katana? Are you trying to cut your hand off?" I looked down at my hands that hadn't moved. I had been playing with the blade. In fact, I had been running my fingers along the edge of the blade. I wasn't bleeding. I didn't have so much as a scrape.

_'__…_…blade_…_…'

My eyes snapped up to the sword now sitting in Ben's hands.

"Ben, it's not a katana."

"What do you mean it's not a katana?"

"Look at it. The edge is on the wrong side of the curve. It's totally dull on the outside." He finally looked down and saw what I was talking about.

"It's a sakabato."

"A what?"

"A sakabato. It's like a katana, but the edge is on the opposite side of the blade. It's also called a reverse blade. It's not commonly used because it requires elite strength and speed to be able to wield it like a normal samurai sword and still be lethal with it."

"So why is Nick's zanpakutō a sakabato instead of a katana like everyone else's? Not to seem mean or rude or anything, but Nick's hardly a master."

"True, but he did cut that hollow in half with one clean cut."

"Do you think we'll become shinigami too?"

"Yeah. We're all in this together. I'm sure we'll become shinigami too soon enough."

Ben was partially right.

It was long before Nick woke up. When he did, we explained what happened as best we could. From then on, Nick started training harder every day. The skill he had shown when he obliterated that hollow seemed to have disappeared, but that didn't stop him. He said that he had a responsibility now to protect us more than ever now that he had a zanpakutō and was no longer in danger of turning into a hollow. Nick was never the 'leader' of our little group so to speak. We usually tried to treat each other equally and take equal responsibility for things. Sure, there were occasions where one of us would take the lead or whatever, but Nick and I tended to let Ben take the lead. He was the oldest, and was a natural fighter and protector. So, I knew it was only a matter of time before several things happened: Nick would push himself way too hard for the sake of protecting us, he would eventually burn out from overworking himself for so long, Ben would start to go nuts from feeling like a burden, and he would become a shinigami too. My own fate, on the other hand, wasn't as foreseeable. I knew something big was coming, but I had no idea what. Then there was the voice. I couldn't tell if he was trying to be helpful or obnoxious. One night, I finally was on my last nerve. He had been talking my mental ear off and I couldn't get to sleep.

_'__…_…time…running_…__…__…_…'

_'Why do you still bother? I can barely hear you!'_

_'__…_…important_…_…'

_'Alright fine! I'll listen reeaal carefully and you tell me what's so important.'_

_'__…_…time_…_…'

_'Yeah, 'time', I get that. You've been telling me for the last few weeks that time is running out or whatever. What happens when time runs out?'_

_'__…_…defeat_…_…'

_'Defeat? Okay, so we'll lose at something. Who are we fighting?'_

_'__…_…o…ar_…__…__…_…som_…_…'

_'I can't hear you.'_

_'__…_…o…r_…__…_…so_…_…'

_'It's getting harder to hear you.'_

_'__…_…they_…__…__…_…come_…_…'

_'Alright, so the bad guys are coming. What do you want me to do about it? I'm just a ghost. Ask Nick, he's got a sword now, maybe he can help you.'_

_'__…_…you_…__…__…__…_…_…hear__…__…__…__…__…_…_…_alone_…__…__…__…__…__…__…_…help_…__…__…_…_…__…__…__…__…_you_…__…__…__…__…__…_…Jessica_…__…__…__…_…_…__…__…_nothing_…__…__…__…__…_…you_…__…__…__…_…I am_…__…__…__…__…__…__…_…not yet ready_…__…_…_…__…_but you are not defenseless_…__…__…_…_…__…_use_…__…__…__…__…__…__…_…energy_…__…__…__…__…__…__…__…_…summon_…_…_…__…__…_magic_…__…__…__…__…__…__…__…_… kidō…_…__…__…_'

I couldn't make out enough of what he was saying to understand what he meant, but the last word I heard certainly caught my attention. Kidō. He said I wasn't defenseless, that I had to summon some kind of magic. How could I use kidō if I was just a ghost?

_'Sorry to burst your bubble, buddy, but you seem to have missed the part I said earlier about being a ghost.'_

_'__…_…kidō_…_…'

_'Yes I know, you want me to use kid__ō_. Well, I can't!' I laid there staring up at the stars. I could hear Ben and Nick's gentle breathing with crystal clarity even though we were several feet apart. My hearing had improved since Nick changed. I had gotten stronger and faster, but I still didn't compare to them. I wonder if Nick could use kidō. He's technically a shinigami now so he should be able to. He would need training, though.

_'So let's assume for a minute,' _I thought with a sigh, _'that I can use kidō. What then? I would need a teacher.'_

_'__…_…no_…_…'

_'What do you mean 'no'? I can't just stand up, say "Hadō #4: byakurai" and have lightning shoot out of my fingers.'_

_'__…__…_yes_…__…_'

_'You're insane.'_

_'…__…_you are_…__…__…_…talking…_…__…_voices in her head_…_…'

_'Only one voice.' _I heard a gentle rumbling sound after my comment that I guessed was the voice chuckling.

_'__…_…do not quit before_…__…__…__…__…_…begun_…__…__…__…__…_…great potential_…__…_…power_…__…__…__…__…_…reach_…__…_…grab it_…_…'

_'But I don't know anything about kidō. How am I supposed to learn without a teacher. I can't do it on my own.'_

_'__…_…I will help_…_…'

* * *

That night, I did what I thought to be impossible. I, a ghost, not only used kidō, but did so without any form of teacher. My mystery voice guided me in how to listen to my own reiatsu and feel my own power, but that was it. Whether that was all he was trying to tell me or that was all I could hear, I still managed it. When I felt that I had a good understanding of my own power, I decided to give kidō a shot. I held my hand out to a nearby sapling and whispered to myself,

"Hadō #1: Shō." The branches swayed slightly and a few leaves fluttered to the ground. It wasn't the effect I had hoped for, but it was something. I didn't sleep at all that night because I was too intrigued with my discovery. I stood next to that little tree all night, focusing on listening to my reiatsu and using it to use kidō. Now, I didn't like the idea of having to rely on kidō to take care of myself, but beggars can't be choosers. I would just have to rely on kidō until I was strong enough to become a shinigami and fight properly. Truth be told, I had _always_ been a Kenpachi fan. I had decided a while ago that, if we ever made it to Soul Society, I would become a shinigami and join the Eleventh Division. According to the Brute Squad of Soul Society, kidō was cheating and a pathetic way to fight. They would never accept me if I didn't become a great fighter with a sword.

_'__…__…you will__…__…'_

_____'What, become a great fighter?'_

_____'__…__…yes__…__…'_

_________'What makes you so sure?'_

_________'__…__…you are__…__…__…__…__…__…__…I know you better than__…__…__…__…__…_yourself_…__…'_

_______________'Pft! Whatever. I just want to prove myself to them.'_

_______________'__…__…you will__…__…'_

* * *

The next morning and the weeks that followed were some of the best I had since waking up in the street that first fateful day. I showed the guys my newfound skill and we all trained to get stronger. Nick and Ben eventually picked up a few kidō spells, but I seemed to have a natural talent for it. Ben made fun of me about my kidō and my love for Squad Eleven, and I made fun of him for the way the spells kept literally backfiring on him. Nick steadily got better and better with his sword, though he was still unable to hear anything from it or communicate with it in any way.

Finally, the day came when my prediction came to fruition. We were attacked by another gianormous hollow. Nick fought against it tooth and nail, and managed to do some serious damage. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Nick collapsed after a few rounds with the hollow. He had worked himself to the bone and burned out. I managed to keep it from killing Nick with what little kidō I had. It was about to finish the two of us off when it was Ben's turn. My knees buckled and I collapsed next to Nick, partially from the force of the hollow's strike and partially from the sudden flare in reiatsu from Ben. The hollow was equally surprised and turned to face the new threat. Ben stood there, chain gone and his new sword locked tightly in his grip. The hollow roared and lunged at him. Ben didn't even flinch. He crouched slightly before springing at the beast, blade flashing. My eyes struggled to keep up with the fight, but I missed most of what happened. I didn't miss a single sound, though. I heard every swing, every swipe, every slash, and every cut. As quickly as it had begun, the fight was over. Ben had a few gashes, but nothing too terrible. The hollow wasn't so lucky.

"Y-you bastard…" it groaned as it began dissipating. Ben just stood there, still in a battle stance, breathing heavily from the fight. As soon as the last bit of the hollow had faded away, Ben collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap. I listened for his reiatsu as Nick and I rushed over. He was alive, well as alive as a ghost-turned-shinigami can be, though he was out cold from his wounds. I could hear his reiatsu had changed too. Instead of a buzzing sound, it sounded like a crackling fire, but with a strange tone. For whatever reason, the sound of it made me think of blue flames. I just chalked it up to what Ben had said about Nick smelling like Autumn. We drug him over to someplace safe to wait for him to wake up. Nick kept look out and I tried to decipher the ever cryptic voice in my head.

_'__…_…East…_…_'

_'What?'_

_'__…_…East_…__…__…_…brother_…_…'

_'Again? Why do you keep saying that? What about my brothers?'_

_'__…_…not_…__…__…__…_brothers…_…__…__…__…__…_look_…__…__…__…_…blade_…__…__…__…_…brother…_…_'

_'You're still not making any sense.'_ Regardless, I decided to try to listen to him and indulge my curiosity. I picked up Ben's blade and examined it closely. Like Nick's, the sword was a sakabato, not a katana. _'Why are both their swords like this?'_

_'__…_…this form_…__…__…__…__…__…__…__…____…__…__…__…_mark of a master_…__…__…__…_masters of war_…__…__…_battle_…__…__…__…__…__…__…_our masters_____…____…____…____…_will not_____…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…_understand_____…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…_beings of strength_____…______…______…______…______…_power_____…______…______…______…______…_unparalleled…_…_'

_'What? Why do I have such a hard time hearing you? Why does it sound like you're so far away?'_

_'______…______…you______…______…______…______…_not hear_____…______…______…_because_____…______…______…______…______…_not_____…______…______…______…_listening_____…______…______…______…_letting yourself hear_____…______…______…______…______…______…______…_not trying to hear_____…______…______…_I_____…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…_my power_____…______…______…_only offer_____________…______…______…______…_must_____…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…_reach out_____…______…______…______…_take_____…______…______…______…______…_listen_____…______…______…______…______…______…______…_to me_____…______…______…______…_my voice_____…______…______…______…_accept_____…______…______…______…_power_____…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…______…_own_____…______…'_

_______'You're just confusing me more! What do you mean I'm not trying to listen? If I wasn't trying to hear you, I wouldn't hear you. I've tuned you out before. Or is that what this is about? You're upset that I tuned you out!'_

_______'______…______…not understand______…______…______…______…______…hear as I hear______…______…'_

_________________________'What the hell does that even mean? 'hear as I hear'? Quite being so cryptic! I can barely hear you so stop trying to make me solve riddles and puzzles.'_

"Hey, Jess, you alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, Nick, I'm fine. Just zoning out. You see anything?"

"Nah, nothing yet. I think we should be okay till the sun comes up. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Not tired. Hey, did you notice?"

"Notice what?"

"Ben's zanpakutō. It's a sakabato just like yours."

"That's weird. I wonder why they're like that."

"Beats me. Maybe Ben'll have some idea when he wakes up."

He didn't. So, we all ended up wandering around looking for Karakura town. We finally came to a city and found a road sign that said Karakura town was just 35 miles away. So, we started moving faster and taking shorter breaks so we could finally finish our long journey. That's when the shit hit the fan. We were almost within city limits when I heard this horrible ripping sound.

"What the-"

"What's wrong?" Nick asked, instantly alert.

"I heard something."

"I'm getting something too. Smells like hollows, but different."

"What do you mean? Different how?"

"Do you see anything?"

"No, not really. I can see reiatsu all over. I think the whole aura of Karakura town is covering whatever it is up."

"Well this can't be good."

_'Okay, I know I've never really asked for your help before, but I guess there's a first time for everything, huh?'_

_'__…__…run__…__…'_

_____'From what? We don't know what's coming or where it's coming from only that it is coming.'_

_____'__…__…abominations____…__…'_

___________'Hollows?'_

___________'__…__…worse__…__…'_

_______________'Worse than hollows? What's coming?'_

_______________'__…__…abominations__…__…'_

___________________'Abominations that aren't hollows. That's helpful.'_

___________________'__…__…anymore__…__…'_

_______________________'What?'_

_______________________'__…__…anymore__…__…'_

_'Not hollows__…__…'_

"…anymore."

"What?"

"Guys, we have to get out of here," I practically whispered.

"Why?"

"Jess, what's wrong? You just went pale all of a sudden."

"I don't know for sure, but I think I know what's coming."

"What?"

"Arrancar."

As if on cue, a huge Garganta tore open in the sky right above us. The arrancar that came out weren't ones that we recognized. We knew most of them since most Espada had only a few Fracciòn. Szayel had a ton that he created but these arrancar didn't look like something he'd create. There were three of them, but I didn't get a very good glimpse of what they looked like. I was nearly deafened by all of the sudden reiatsus flaring at once. The three arrancar flared theirs and drew their swords and Nick and Ben responded in kind, yelling at me to run. In most cases, I would have ignored them and fought anyway, but the circumstances were too much against me. My chain was growing ever shorter and I was scared of being alone again. My brothers were both shinigami now. If we got to Soul Society, they would go to the Gotei 13 and I would go to the Rukongai. Even if I became a shinigami there, I would be stuck going through the Academy without them. So, I knew that I was weakened from negative emotions and more in danger of becoming a hollow. Then there was the fact that I was stuck with nothing but kidō for defense. I had taught myself a fair amount, but I only remembered so many spells from the show and manga. For a moment, I stood there contemplating what to do. I was terrified.

_'What do I do?'_

_'______________________…______________________…RUN!'_

That was all I needed. I turned and took off, running away from the noise of their reiatsus. I ran and ran until I heard something coming up behind me. One of them had decided to chase me. I turned around at the last second, knowing he was directly behind me, and mustered up all the energy I could. I didn't say anything, but apparently I didn't need to. The Shakkahō that blasted from my hand sent the arrancar flying. He landed sprawled out in the street nearly 60 feet away from me. I didn't bother to get a good look at him before turning back ahead and demanding my legs to move faster. I didn't see, but I heard. His reiatsu had a hollow, empty tone. It almost had an echo to it. When I focused on the sound I felt like something started oozing over my arm. I shivered, checking to see that nothing was there.

When I finally stopped running, I had to struggle not to collapse. I wasn't sure how my lungs hurt so bad when I didn't have a real body.

_'______________________…______________________…Jessica________________…______________________…cannot stop…______________________…______________________…must keep running…______________________…______________________…must escape…______________________…'_

_______________________________________'But Ben and Nick-'_

_______________________________________'…______________________…will not die…______________________…______________________…______________________…______________________…protected…______________________…'_

_______________________________________'But what if I don't find them again?'_

_______________________________________'______________…_…you will_____________________…______________________…_now_____________________…______________________…you…______________________…______________________…______________________…_danger_____________________…______________________…______________________…______________________…__________________…_please run_____________________…______________________…'_

_______________________________________'Run where? That oozy guy caught up with me once, and I doubt that weak Shakahō will keep him down for long. What am I supposed to do?'_

_______________________________________'…______________________…trust me…______________________…'_

_______________________________________'What?'_

_______________________________________'…______________________…do…______________________…_trust me_____________________…?…______________________…'_

Did I? Did I trust this mysterious voice that's been following me from the very beginning? Did I trust him with my safety? with my life? with the lives of my brothers? Did I trust his promise that I would find them again?

_'Yeah, I guess I do______________________…______________________…'_

_______________________'________________…______________________…stop…______________________…wait…______________________…surrender…______________________…'_

_______________________________________'What?'_

_______________________________________'…______________________…obey…______________________…'_

The last time I did what he said, I died. And I stayed with my brothers. I stopped dead in my tracks and waited in silence. It wasn't long before that silence was shattered. I heard all three reiatsus of the monsters. They weren't too far away, but they hadn't noticed me yet.

"Where did she go?"

"I lost her for moment. She used one of the shinigami's kidō spells."

"That's impossible, she's not a shinigami."

"Yeah, she had a chain and no sword."

"If this is some lame excuse because you lost her-"

"I didn't lose her! And why are you so worried about my target? Where are the males?"

"We got them into the Garganta, but something pulled them away."

"They didn't get swallowed in the void, did they?"

"Of course not!"

"We wouldn't be careless enough to lose them in there!"

"Whatever pulled them away from us opened a Garganta somewhere else."

"They're in the spirit realm now."

"Then the shinigami have them."

"No, they were taken to some wilderness. We will have plenty of time to catch them before the shinigami find them."

"What will Aizen-sama say?"

"They're not lost for good, and he shouldn't be too upset as long as we bring one of them back."

"She should be easier for you to turn, right? Since she's still a plus?"

"Yes, but there was something about her. I want to change her as quickly as possibly. Things may get sticky if she changes."

"Don't you think you can handle her?"

"Of course I can! I'm just saying that it would be easiest to turn her now so I can save my strength for the males. She's weak and on the verge of becoming a hollow as it is."

"Well I doubt she'll become a shinigami in the next few minutes."

"Come on, Aizen-sama will be please as long as we bring at least her back, but we shouldn't keep him waiting."

With their conversation done, they started to move. They were heading right for me.

_'______________________…______________________…wait________________…______________________…surrender…______________________…'_

_______________________________________'You want me to surrender to them? To Aizen?'_

_______________________________________'…______________________…no…______________________…'_

_______________________________________'Then to who?'_

_______________________________________'…______________________…me______________________…______________________…'_

_'What? You? Why? Who are you? What are you? Why are you in my head? Why can only I hear you?'_

_'______________________…______________________…I________________…______________________…'_

The terrible trio arrived.

_'______________________…______________________…am________________…______________________…'_

They stood behind me. I could hear their smug smirks.

_______________________________________'…______________________…your…______________________…'_

"Well hello there."

"You'll be coming with us, princess."

_'What? My what?'_

Silence.

_'Where are you?'_

More silence.

They moved toward me.

_'Fine. I can't take three arrancar. If you have something up your sleeve, then go nuts. This is all you now.'_

Then I felt it. A strange power began flowing through me. I didn't know what it was, but I didn't really care.

_'…__…_fight…_…_'

I turned around to face my opponents. I couldn't see anything. There was so much noise that my vision started going blurry. As soon as they felt my power, they became defensive and flared their reiatsus. I clamped my eyes shut and played it by ear. Pun intended. I held my hands out, palms facing them and immediately used the one Bakudō spell I could use well.

"Bakudō #1: Sai!" Immediately, their swords clattered to the ground, causing me to flinch at the extra noise, and their arms became locked behind them. I didn't know if I would be able to handle a Shakkahō, so I went with Byakurai. The lightning bolts blasted from my fingers. One hit each arrancar. They all went down. I hit them all again for good measure and quickly contemplated what to do next.

_'Alright, you've kept me going so far. What now?'_

_'…__…_run…_…_'

_'Where?' _I didn't hear his voice, but something else in response. One sound began standing out against the others. I said a silent prayer that the owner of the mysterious voice really was on my side.

* * *

…

Here is another

Japanese poem for you.

So, how did I do?

…


	5. AFTERLIFE

Last chapter of flashbacks!

**DISCLAIMER:** I am greatly amused by the idea that anyone would think that I own anything related to Bleach rights. The only Bleach related things I own are a Kenpachi key chain, an Urahara chibi plushie, Kenpachi's sword, Yachiru's lieutenant arm band, and my bro has Urahara's hat. For reals. T_T

* * *

So, I was on my own. The only thing that kept me going was the promise the mysterious voice had made to me. He promised that I would see them again. I didn't know what to do, so I just kept running. I eventually found my way into Karakura town, but I didn't know where to go from there. I couldn't just go up to one of the characters and tell them about Bleach or anything. We had agreed that that was dangerous and stupid. If I could find a shinigami, then they could send me to Soul Society. But then I would still be lost and alone. It had been so long since I had been totally alone. Ben and Nick were usually the leaders. They were both smarter than me, stronger than me, and better leaders than me. I would just chime in when needed. I wandered around Karakura town for a while, trying to decide what to do. Days passed and my chain grew ever shorter. My time was running out. After the fight with the arrancar, it had been even harder to hear his voice. I didn't know why, but it was starting to kill me.

Another sleepless night came and I could feel a hole begin to form in my chest. The only thing that had been keeping me from becoming a hollow was now lost somewhere in the wilderness beyond the Rukongai. Unable to take the crushing silence anymore, I screamed.

"I can't do this anymore! Are you going to answer me? Or have you just given up?"

Nothing.

"Why are you ignoring me? I'm dead because of you! I'm alone because of you! I'm going to turn into a hollow and it's all your fault! Well? At least have the decency to answer me!"

The answer I received wasn't the one I wanted.

"Aw, poor little girl. I can help you if you want." My eyes, which had been clamped shut in frustration, shot open. A hollow had snuck up on me. "I can make it so your not alone anymore, and you won't turn into a hollow. Can't say much about the 'dead' part though," it cackled. I quickly moved to my feet. It wasn't as big as the ones that had attacked us when Ben and Nick had changed, but it was way too big for me to even hope to take out on my own. I got ready to blast it, thankful that my kido had somewhat improved in my solitude. Maybe I would get lucky. Maybe it would underestimate me and I could kill it.

The fight didn't last real long. I lost. I did a little damage to it, but it knocked me around with ease. I struggled to sit up as the great lizard like beast came up to me. I struggled to flare my reiatsu. It only cackled at the pathetic attempt.

_'PLEASE! I have to find Nick and Ben again! Please help me! What do I have to do?'_

_'__…__…listen__…__…'_

_____'I've BEEN listening! I couldn't hear you for so long! What am I supposed to do?'_

_____'__…__…surrender__…__…'_

_________'What? You mean like last time?'_

_________'__…__…no__…__…'_

_____________'Then what? What do I have to surrender to?'_

_____________'__…__…pain__…__…'_

The hollow chuckled again as it scooped me up.

_________________'…__…suffering__…__…'_

The sound multiplied as other hollows crept up to join the first.

_____________________'__…__…death__…__…'_

They all moved at once. They began reaching for me, with claws and talons and fangs. None of them could get a good grip on me. I wriggled around, trying to keep out of reach.

_'How__…__…?' _I questioned weakly. I strained my ears, desperately trying to block out the sound of the squabbling hollows and focus everything on his voice. I could almost feel my mind move. The pain began to fade so I didn't notice it and the noise grew muffled until it disappeared. I could hear his voice clearer than ever before, though it still sounded like it was coming from a great distance.

_'__…__…be unbound by destiny's bonds__…__…do not push away your strength__…__…'_

_______'What? That doesn't make any sense! Please just give me a straight answer! I'm tired of all the riddles!'_

_______'__…__…do not push away your strength__…__…__…__…embrace it__…__…'_

_____________'My strength? What am I pushing away?'_

My thoughts were shattered when I landed hard on the ground. All at once, all the pain I was ignoring poured out. I couldn't help the scream that tore from my lips and cracked my throat. I tried to pull away from the pain that I was drowning int, but it felt like something was pushing me back under.

_'__…__…coward!__…__…'_

_____'How am I being a coward?'_

_____'__…__…never run from a fight__…__…'_

_________'You've told me to run more than once!'_

_________'__…__…the purpose of that fight was not destroying the enemy, but escaping their plot alive__…__…__…__…__…death is the only outcome of this battle__…__…__…__…surrender__…__…_'

_________________'Have you ever heard the term 'mixed signals'?'_

_________________'__…__…surrender to your own power__…__…'_ I was still confused, and in agonizing pain, but I did as I was told. I surrendered. I gave up fighting against the hollows and the pain. Stars flashed in my vision as every nerve ending in my body seemed to be on fire. The pain only increased when the giant lizard hollow grabbed my chain and pulled me up off the ground.

_'__…__…be free__…__…__…__…unbound__…__…'_

_______'Free from what?'_ I couldn't solve his riddle. I was in too much pain. I tried to think of what he had first said. Something about destiny and bonds. I let out another scream as the hollow cruelly jerked me around in mid air, pulling on my chain and sending pain crashing through my body again. My chain. Chains were binds, right? Was he trying to tell me something about my chain? What was that he had been saying about destiny? I struggled through the agony to look at my chain, securely in the monster's grasp. A chain of fate. Fate! Fate and destiny were close. So he was talking about my chain! But why? He said to be free, unbound. He kept talking about pain and suffering and my chain. If I pulled my chain off, I would be in more pain than I could imagine and I would turn into a hollow. But I wouldn't be bound anymore. The chain symbolized what my soul was bound to. My brothers were gone. There shouldn't be anything else holding me to the world of the living.

_'__…__…pull away__…__…__…__…face your pain__…__…__…__…face your power__…__…__…__…__…__…be reborn from the ashes__…__…'_

I reached up my hands and held onto the chain as tightly as I could. The odds of me not turning into a hollow were about a trillion to one. If I didn't, then the other hollows would eat me. I shut my eyes again and took a deep breath. I pushed the sound of the jeering hollows away and tried to focus on the pain.

"Dinner time!"

I pulled. It came off. I blacked out from the pain.

I wasn't out long, though. As quickly as the pain had crashed through me and overwhelmed me, it was gone. I landed on the ground, dazed. I was left numb from the strange lack of sensation. I could barely move, but I forced my hand to touch my chest where my brand new hollow hole should have been. Nothing. My eyes snapped up to find the source of the loud roar that broke me from my thoughts. Several giant fingers landed on the ground in front of me and the lizard hollow standing above me was hollering and clutching at its hand. All the other hollows froze in shock and confusion. Only the lizard beast moved as we all looked on. My eyes snapped back down to the ground to look at the next sound I heard. A sword had landed in the ground amid the fingers, sticking right up out of the dirt. The moonlight glinted off of the side of the blade, showing that it, like my brothers' swords, was a sakabato. I was a shinigami.

_'Jessica.'_ I jumped at the crystal clear sound of the mysterious voice. It sounded as if he spoke right into my ear. _'I think we have been on the receiving end of the pain for long enough, don't you?'_ I felt a smirk spread across my face as I sprung up, snatched my zanpakuto out of the ground and lunged at the monster that had started all of this. I cut off its left leg and then its right arm before slicing its mask in two. It faded to oblivion before it even hit the ground. I looked up at the other hollows, silently challenging them to come at me. They all moved as one to swoop down and devour me. With a strength and speed completely foreign to me, I darted around slicing and dicing. In a matter of minutes, the area was empty save for me. I stood for a moment breathing heavily from the exertion and the thrill of being able to fight like that. Just as I was about to stand and relax, all the pain came rushing back. I collapsed, my mouth opening in a silent scream.

_'I apologize, Jessica, but this is beyond my control. In exchange for fantastic power when you first awaken your shinigami powers, you feel pain and weakness afterward.' _I laid there for a bit, just waiting it out. When I could finally move again, I slowly moved into a sitting position.

_'So, why haven't I passed out like Nick and Ben did?'_

_'I am keeping you conscious using my own power. They could rest safely because they were not alone. Such is not the case with you.'_

_'Your power? Who are you? What are you?'_

_'I am your zanpakutō.'_

_'What? No, that's not possible. I shouldn't be able to speak with my zanpakutō like this. I heard you when I was just a plus. I heard you when I was alive!'_

_'That is because you are unique. You can hear the sounds of reiatsus. Each of you had to sense us before you could wield us.'_

_'Wait, what?'_

_'Nick had to learn to recognize his zanpakutō's appearance and Ben had to learn to recognize his zanpakutō's scent. You had to learn to recognize my voice.'_

_'Then why didn't they say anything? Nick never mentioned seeing anything special, and Ben never mentioned any other scents.'_

_'I assume that they learned these things subconsciously. Ben may have become accustomed to his zanpakutō's scent through the scent of his own reiatsu.'_

_'And Nick?'_

_'I regret to say that I always had more trouble understanding__…__…__…__…__…__…and__…__…__…__…__…__…than__…__…__…__…__…__….'_

_______'Huh? You just faded out there for a second. I missed what you said there at the end.'_

_______'Hm__…__…W_hat you were unable to hear were their names. Something must be preventing you from being able to hear them.'

_________'Wait, wait, wait. How do _you_ know their names? You're my zanpakutō, right? So you shouldn't be able to know anything about someone else's zanpakutō!'_

_'We are unique. I must leave it at that for now. I am using a great deal of my own power in an effort to speed your recovery. Find a safe place to rest. I will do what I can to help us stay alert so we should hear any aproaching hollow.'_

I was too exhausted to argue. I silently promised myself that I would get everything out of him later, and would rest now.

* * *

I stayed in Karakura town simply because I had no where else to go, but the stay was much more enjoyable now that I was no longer in danger of becoming a hollow. I was now a shinigami just like Ben and Nick. We could all be shinigami together when I finally found them. I sat in an apple tree in the park and stared up at the clouds. I frowned at a bunny shaped cloud. Fact: I missed my brothers immensely. Fact: I would not stop searching until I found them. Fact: I would do anything short of siding with Aizen to find them again. So why did I suddenly feel different about the whole situation? The idea of us all being on the same squad not only held virtually no appeal, it seemed like a downright bad idea. Before, I had dreams and plans for when I found them again that involved us never being more than 100 feet from one another.

_'Your emotions have changed because a major factor has disappeared. You were beginning the primary stages of a hollow transformation. You were not so close that you have become a vizard, but it did begin to influence the strength of your emotions. You were becoming obsessed with them.'_

_'We were all so worried about the two of them becoming hollows because of negative emotions that I forgot about myself.'_

_'Such issues are no longer problems. It is still possible for you to become a vizard from what I understand, but Aizen himself would have to transform you with the Hokyoku.'_

_'Okay, I've got a question for you.'_

_'Very well.'_

_'How do you know so much?'_

_'I am bound to you. We are naturally closer than most shinigami are to their zanpakutō spirits. Since I was first awoken, I have taken to familiarizing myself with you.'_

_'What do you mean awoken?'_

_'I did not exist in your world. When you first awoke in the street in this world, I awoke as well.'_

_'So why did you need to learn about me? Aren't we two halves of the same whole or whatever?'_

_'Yes, but as I have told you, we are unique. We existed once before. It is a long story that will be told another time.'_

_'Well then, what _can_ you tell me?'_

_'Ask your questions and I will answer what I can.'_

_'Why are you all sakabato instead of katana?'_

_'We have taken the form of master blades because we are masters of war and you are our masters. There will come a time when you can wield me even in this form and still destroy your enemies with little effort.'_

_'Why did I have to pull my chain off to get you? The guys didn't have to do that.'_

_'They do not get their power from the same source. Your pain is your power. You become strong by accepting pain without fear. You feared that you would turn into a hollow, yet you faced that fear and accepted the pain you knew would come. The pain you feel in battle will cause my reiatsu to grow and, in turn, yours. This power acts as a double edged sword. You will grow stronger with the more pain you feel, but you must take hits to feel the pain. The risk of losing will always be greater so long as you rely on this.'_

_'So, does that mean you're a kidō based zanpakutō?'_

_'No. While this may seem like a form of kidō, it is not. In fact, my reiatsu will never help you with kidō. If I were a shinigami, I would be completely incapable of using the magic. That skill is yours alone.'_

_'So, you're completely physical fighting and I'm kidō?'_

_'Yes. We are yin and yang, in a way. The part that we share with the other is our placement. You are our 'physical' form though you have the 'spiritual' power, and I am the 'spiritual' form though I have the 'physical' power. In truth, I would ask that you do not use me as a tool with which to use kidō. I am very much like your captain in that respect.'_

_'My captain? You mean Kenpachi? He's not my captain. I want him to be, but I'm not even in the spirit realm yet. Any idea how to get there?'_

_'No, unfortunately.'_

_'Then how did Ben and Nick get there?'_

_'Their zanpakutōs may have found a way once they were through the Garganta and into the void between worlds, but I have no way of getting us out of the living world.'_

_'How do you know what a Garganta is? You never did answer me about that earlier. How do you know so much?'_

_'When I was familiarizing myself with you, I went through a number of your memories. Whatever you were thinking about at the time had to do with a number of manga stories, specifically Bleach. Now I know everything about Bleach that you know.'_

_'That makes sense, I guess.' _I thought hard about my next question. He seemed to be ready to be done with the questions for now. His tone changed ever so slightly, but I caught it. It was strangely relieving and refreshing to be able to hear his voice so clearly. _'Okay, here's a question for you: what's your name?'_

_'My name is__…______…____…____…____…____…____…__.'_

___'Um,'_

___'You were unable to hear my name.'_

___'Yup.'_

___'Then our bond is not yet strong enough. You must train.'_

___'Uh-huh, _we_ have to train. You're as much a part of this as I am, buddy, so we're gunna train together.'_

_'Fine. Close your eyes and focus. We will find a training partner.'_

We trained day in and day out for who knows how long, fighting hollows whenever I could find them. I knew that it had been more than a year since I died because I saw all four season and then the fifth. Training was hard, but was worth it. My kidō improved in all aspects. My spells were stronger, faster, and much better controlled. I got good with my sword too. I was fast and strong, never missing my target. It wasn't until later that I began to wonder why I hadn't seen any other shinigami in Karakura town. I finally made up my mind and went to the market to make sure that I was in the right place. I got there and walked down the street looking for a sign or something. I stopped, totally shocked when I felt something tugging at my shirt. I looked over my shoulder to see a little girl holding a teddy bear to her chest in one hand and the end of my shirt in the other. To say I was shocked was an understatement. My eyes flickered down to her chest before going back to her face. No chain.

"Excuse me, lady." She spoke in a small shy voice.

"What's wrong?" I crouched down to her level and listened carefully. She definitely had a good sized spiritual pressure, but it didn't seem like it was strong enough for her to be able to see me clearly, much less touch me.

"Is that a real sword?" I silently thanked my zanpakutō for my hearing. She whispered so softly that I would have missed what she said completely if my hearing were anything less than superhuman.

"Yes, but don't worry, I only use it on monsters."

"Really? So, you're like a super hero?" Her voice got slightly louder, but was still insanely soft.

"Something like that," I smiled. "My name's Jessica, what's yours?"

"Kisa."

"Maybe you can help me, Kisa. I'm a little lost. What town are we in?"

"We're in Karakura town, silly."

"Okay, that's what I thought. I just wanted to make sure."

"Did you get lost?"

"Sort of. What about you? Did you get lost? Where are your parents?"

"I don't know, we got separated." Her voice became nearly silent again as she hugged her bear closer to her face.

"How about I help you find them?"

"Okay!" The size of her smile shocked me, but that wasn't all. Out of nowhere, her reiatsu seemed to explode. It more than doubled in size as she beamed up at me and grabbed my hand. I stood and walked with her down the street, looking for the woman and man the little girl described in her tinkling voice. This human girl had managed to suppress her reiatsu, and did so subconsciously. No matter what, I would have to do my best to keep an eye on this little girl even if I eventually made it to Soul Society. She was a prime target for hollows. We walked for about an hour before she said she was hungry and insisted on buying us both some ice cream with the money her mom had given her that morning. Much to my shock and delight, I was able to not only touch the food, but eat it! Kisa found my reaction to the icy treat amusing and giggled so hard that she nearly dropped her own treat. When we finished, we began our hunt again. After all of our searching we heard a desperate cry of "Kisa!" from a woman.

"Mommy?"

"Kisa! Where are you?"

"I'm over here, Mommy!"

"Kisa!" The terrified woman spun to face us. As soon as she spotted her little girl, she started running forward. I pulled my hand from Kisa's and nudged her back gently. That was all she needed. She took off running as fast as her little legs would carry her and met her mother half way. The woman sobbed in relief and clutched her child to her. Kisa cried too and held her mother as tightly as her young arms could, her teddy bear lay forgotten on the ground. I smiled gently at the sweet reunion.

"Kisa, thank God you're alright! Where were you?"

"I got lost, Mommy, but the nice lady helped me find you."

"What lady?" She frowned.

"That lady!" Kisa turned to point to where I was standing. She smiled and me and waved with one hand and dried her cheeks with the other.

"Kisa, there's no one there."

"Yeah-huh! She's right there." I smiled and waved before shaking my head.

"Kisa-" That was my cue. I launched myself up off the ground and landed on the nearest roof hiding just out of sight. I started on my way back to the park for a nap, smiling at the last thing I heard Kisa say.

"She was an angel, Mommy!"

* * *

The seasons changed again with the color of the leaves. Fall had come. I took a deep breath in through my nose and smelled Autumn. Ben had said that this was the scent of Nick's reiatsu. I smiled at the memories before starting my morning training. Nothing was more relaxing than pulling out my zanpakutō and practicing in the stillness of the early morning. I was pulled out of my revere by a strangely familiar voice.

"Karin, wait up!" I sheathed my sword and hid behind a tree to get a better look at the owner of the voice. Kurosaki Yuzu ran to catch up with her older sister Karin.

"No way. I agreed to come on this pick nick if Dad would go the whole trip without being an idiot."

"Oh, come back, daughter! Your daddy just wants to spend time with you!" Kurosaki Ishin cried, hamming it up like a pro. I stifled a giggle at the family's antics, knowing that two of them would be able to see me clearly. Though Ishin probably already knew that I was there, being an ex-captain. "I lost your brother and now I'm losing your sister! Never leave Daddy, Yuzu!" He shouted through torrents of tears.

"You didn't lose anybody! Ichigo's just on a trip for summer break, you idiot!"

Summer break? Then something big could be going on in Soul Society. I moved off a ways and suppressed my reiatsu as best I could, listening carefully to the family. It was easy to know where they were thanks to their larger than average reiatsus and giant mouths with no volume control. Lunch time came and went and the family packed up to go home. I followed at a distance until they finally got home. Sure enough, no Ichigo. I took off in search of the other three. After some careful attention to detail, I found the only Quincy in Karakura town. Ishida Ryuken, Uryu's father, was alone in the house. I spent the rest of the day and most of the night searching, but I couldn't find the homes of Orihime and Sado. So, I came up with a different plan. I waited until around noon the next day and went to the Kurosaki household. Ishin was at the clinic leaving Yuzu and Karin at home. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding when I heard Karin's reiatsu move closer to the door. She opened the door and looked my dead in the eye.

"Can I help you with something?" Thank God she could see me!

"Hi, I'm looking for Ichigo. He lives here, right?"

"Yeah, but he's not home. He went on a trip with some friends for summer break."

"Oh. Do you know what friends he went with?"

"I don't know their names, but I think there was a girl and two guys. One of the dudes had glasses and the other was really tall."

"Okay, thank you." I left. Either they were all in Hueco Mundo, or they were in Soul Society saving Rukia. I guessed it was the latter as there hadn't been much time to come up with a cover for leaving to save Orihime. But, with no way to know for sure, I decided to stick around Karakura town and wait for either the group to come home or for god-mod Aizen to show up.

There wasn't much to do through that time but train and kill hollows and protect Kisa in secret. I didn't do this for long, though. I heard something strange one night and looked up to see a shooting star. It stopped half way through it's flight, but I still heard something. It could only be the reiatsus of the Ichigo, Uryu, Orihime, Sado, Urahara, and Yoruichi. I planned to try and introduce myself to Ichigo the next day, but it didn't happen because some unexpected guests showed up. The three arrancar found me. I stood in the park training as usual when they appeared. I had heard them coming, but saw little point in running.

"Long time no see, princess."

"What do you three freaks want?"

"Not us; Aizen-sama."

"Alright, so what does that loser want?"

"Wh-what? How dare you insult Aizen-sama that way?"

"You're nothing compared to him! You have no right to speak about him that way!"

"You won't be so cocky when you see him in person!"

"I won't be going anywhere."

"Don't think you can beat us, girl. You might have gotten us by surprise last time, but we're ready this time." I stopped practicing and turned to really look at them for the first time. The oozy one had spiky jet black hair and pale white skin. His mask seemed to cover most of his body, covering his torso, forearms, shins, and the top half of his face. It looked like he released his resurrección, but the tone of his reiatsu said otherwise. The other two were very different. The one on the far left had electric blue hair and dark skin. His mask lined his jaw and his reiatsu sounded like rippling water. The one on the right had lightly tanned skin and bright blond hair. His goggle like mask sat on his forehead and his reiatsu had a deep tone that reminded me of copper. As one, they drew their swords and pounced at me. I fought them off with moderate difficulty. It wasn't easy, but there was a good chance I would come out the victor.

_'Jessica,'_

_'What? I'm kind of in the middle of something.'_

_'Let them win.'_

_'What?'_

_'There's only so much that we can do in the living world. We need to get to Soul Society and they're our only means.'_

_'So I should just let them take us to Hueco Mundo?'_

_'No, let them take us through a Garganta. I will look for whatever saved your brothers.'_

_'Alright, but I'll have to make it look real.' _So, I faked the fight. It was good because it let me see their strengths and weaknesses without taking any real damage or wearing myself out. Soon enough, they had me 'beaten'. Two of them picked me up, each grabbing an arm, and the third opened the Garganta. I suppressed my reiatsu as much as I could, hoping they would think I was really beat. As soon as we got through the Garganta, I felt it. There was so much raw spiritual pressure all around me. I was going from a world of physical matter to a world composed entirely of spirit particles. But, through all the swarming particles, there was something else.

_'That flow. We can follow that to the wilderness outside of Soul Society.'_

_'How do we do this?'_ He didn't answer. Instead, I felt him reach his reiatsu out. I flared my reiatsu and knocked the two holding me away, jumping right to where I could feel the strange flow pulling.

_'Jessica, we need an opening.'_ I drew my sword and focused my reiatsu. With one good slash, a tiny cut formed. I slipped through before it closed back up, landing safely in the spirit realm. When they said wilderness, they weren't kidding. It looked like I was in the middle of a rocky desert. I picked a direction and started moving. I didn't know how much time passed, but we didn't seem to be making any head way. Then I saw it. I searched the horizon for some scrap of hope and I could see some kind of forest off in the distance, so I decided I should head that way. I only made it about half way before I heard that ominous ripping sound. With no where to run and no where to hide, I drew my sword and spun to face the opening. My eyes widened in fear before clamping tightly shut. Aizen walked out of the Garganta. I was amazed at how much he was able to suppress his reiatsu. It was hard to stand because of the force of it, but I could hear his voice just fine over the ominous, echoing sound of sitting water. I just had to keep my eyes shut so I wouldn't see his Shikai, and I would be okay. Okay. I was going to die. Or worse.

_'Stay calm. I doubt he would have come all this way just to kill you.'_

_'That's what scares me.'_

"Hello, Jessica. I've been looking for you."

"Aizen Sosuke. What would one as strong as you want with someone like me?"

"You shouldn't speak of yourself in such a derogatory tone. You're very special, Jessica."

"Really? I don't see it." He paused and I could hear his slight smirk.

"I'm glad to see that you've finally obtained your zanpakutō. I was beginning to fear you would become a hollow. And, as tantalizing as the idea of having you as an arrancar was, I am much more interested in you as a shinigami."

"And why is that?"

"I know who and what you are, Jessica. Surely your zanpakutō has informed you of all of that."

"What are you talking about? My zanpakutō hasn't said anything to me. Not that I could hear, at least."

"Don't bother, Jessica. I know all about the Generals."

"Generals? What generals?"

"Very well, I'll humor you. A long time ago, there were these fearsome creatures far more dangerous and destructive than hollows. It seemed as if they would over run all of Soul Society. Just when things were at their worst, four great heroes rose up to fight the monsters. These four were very special, you see. They were warriors who had been blessed by the Soul King. So, they each had unique powers that would allow them to fight the monsters and protect Soul Society and the Soul King. They did their job well, and the creatures were nearly destroyed completely. The King eventually dubbed them the Four Generals. But, there was a man behind the creatures, controlling them. He cast a spell on them that locked them away for millennia so that when they awoke, the Four Generals would either be dead or too old and weak to defeat the creatures. The Four Generals heard about this and decided to cast a spell of their own. With the Soul King's help, they cast a spell that cost their lives. They would leave the world until it was time for the creatures to be released. Then, the Generals would be reborn and rise up to stop the threat once again."

"Well, that's a pretty nifty little story, but-"

"Oh, but there's more. You see, the Generals were so great in life that they even came to be known in the living world. Have you heard of the Shitenno? They are the four gods who protect the Soul King. There is the East General, the West General, the South General, and the North General."

East and West. My zanpakutō had said something like that when Ben and Nick became shinigami. Were we these generals reincarnate?

"Your little friends have escaped me, but they weren't the real prize. You see, having the head general is much more valuable than having even two of the others."

"Head general?"

"Yes. You see, Jessica, you are the North General's reincarnation. The great leader's soul was reborn as your zanpakutō."

_'Is this true?'_

_'Yes. I did not tell you because you were not ready. You are far too head strong for your own good and for you to really be trusted with any kind of power would only lead to your corruption and ultimately your demise.'_

_'Who are you to say this? So you looked through some of my memories, that doesn't mean you know anything about me!'_

"You miss them, don't you, Ben and Nick. If you take your place as the North General, the East and West Generals will fall into place behind you. You need only accept my invitation."

_'Jessica, he is right, but you must not take your place at his side.'_

_'I know!'_

_'What are you going to do?'_

_'Do you trust me?'_

_'What?'_

_'Do you trust me?'_

_'__…__…__…__…yes__…__…'_

"Jessica?"

"Screw you, Douche bag!" Our reiatsus flared in unison and I lunged at him, slashing at where I heard his reiatsu. My blade stopped and I could tell it didn't do any kind of damage. I felt him grab onto the bade, and I could just envision him lightly holding it between his thumb and index finger.

"That was a very foolish decision. You will serve me, voluntarily or not." He suddenly unleashed his reiatsu and threw me back. I went flying. I landed a fair distance away from him. I coughed and staggered to my feet, eyes still shut tight.

_'What do we do now, Jessica?'_

_'I don't know.'_

"I know you can hear me," Aizen said in a normal volume. "I won't chase you. If I do, I fear you may end up dead, and then you would be utterly useless to me. I would suggest you start running, though, because one of my pets is much more determined." I didn't hesitate for a second. I turned and ran, using what shunpō I could manage to move as far as I could as fast as I could. It didn't take me long to get to the woods I had seen earlier. Once I was there, I opened my eyes.

_'So I'm you reincarnated?'_

_'Something along those lines, yes. The three of us were sent to be reborn in a world away from this one. We were not reawakened as your zanpakutō spirits until you came here.'_

_'What about the fourth general?'_

_'He was to be reborn here, and he, the zanpakutō spirit, would travel to the other world when it was time for us to all come together again.'_

_'Wait! You mean that guy that we saw?'_

_'Yes, that was the zanpakutō of the South General.'_

_'Okay, so who's the South General.'_

_'I am afraid I don't know. I can only hope that we find each other before the creatures reawaken.'_

_'Great.'_

_'I am more than willing to explain all that I can, but perhaps that can wait; we seem to have a visitor.' _I heard the oozing reiatsu approaching me from behind. I dodged his attack at the last second and spun in mid air so I was facing him when I landed.

"You couldn't just come along quietly. You had to fight back." The hurt and rage in his voice was painfully obvious. "Now they're dead. They died because of you!" He lunged again, slashing with his sword. He was so emotional that he wasn't focusing on his movements at all, so his attacks were slow and sloppy. "You bitch! You killed them!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm still useful to Aizen-sama so he left me alive, but he killed Hotaru and Onigumo!"

"Then why are you blaming me? Aizen's the one who killed them."

"If you had just come with us to see Aizen-sama, they wouldn't have needed to be punished!"

"Are all of you guys this messed up?" I asked as I blocked his next strike.

"Now Aizen-sama has made it my job to turn you." He glared at me over our interlocked blades, each of us fighting to overpower the other.

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" He smirked and forced me away before slicing into the mask part on his arm. A small piece chipped of and fell to the ground. He sheathed his sword and picked up the small shard.

"With this." So fast I almost missed it, he sonido-ed to stand right in front of me. I struggled to stay away, but he was too fast. Eventually, he put the fragment onto my face right below my eye. I screamed at the sudden pain. I felt the shard start to grow and spread over my face. It formed a ring around my right eye before stretching over and covering the left eye completely. From there, it continued to grow.

_'Help me!'_ I didn't wait for him to answer. I focused on the pain and willed our reiatsus it grow. His did, mine barely changed.

_'Don't worry, we will beat this.'_ I turned to the arrancar and gripped my sword, swinging it and unleashing a large amount of spiritual pressure. I heard him scream in agony, but didn't bother to worry about him anymore. I dropped my sword and clutched my head in pain. The pain quickly faded away and I felt strange. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in the woods, but something was wrong. Everything was in black and white.

'Jessica.' I turned to face my zanpakutō. A large man stood in full samurai armor. The armor was made of a beautiful black metal that glinted perfectly in the strange moonlight of this place. I let my eyes take in what I saw of him and this world. There was not solid ground. Instead, we stood on the surface of a pristine lake. The water rippled constantly where our feet touched the surface and where the trees were growing out of the water. My eyes traveled back to the samurai and locked on the mask covering his face. He looked like a demon.

'You…'

'Yes, but unfortunately, this is not a pleasure visit. We have an intruder.' I looked to where he was pointing. There stood an exact copy of my zanpakutō, but with white armor that looked like it was made of bone. Both black and white warriors drew their swords and dove at each other. I reached for mine only to find it missing. I would have to help another way. I rushed into the fray, trying to use shunkō to strengthen every kick and punch I sent at the ivory impostor. After a few good hits from everyone, we all jumped back to size the others up. The hollow creature rushed at my zanpakutō again, but I wouldn't let it get to him. I held my hands out, readying my kidō.

'Bakudo #9: Geki!' Even though we were in my inner world, I still seemed to have a connection to my zanpakutō. I looked into his memories to see if he knew the incantation. He did. 'Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!' A red light engulfed the invader and completely paralyzed it. As soon as my zanpakutō held his blade to its throat, it began to fade away. He didn't lower his sword until it was totally gone from sight.

'It is not gone for good. Whatever was done to us is now permanent. This creature is not like that of a vizard. It seems to be more of a parasite, feeding off of us. It will take time and training, but I think we can learn to control this creature.'

'But it's gone for now, right? 'Cause that arrancar is still out there and we need to deal with him without this thing in the way.'

'Yes, we are fine for now.'

'Then let's go deal with the slime ball.'

I closed my eyes for a quick moment and was met with the real woods when I opened them again. I stood up, grabbing my zanpakutō off the ground as I did. The arrancar stood right in front of me, clutching his shoulder that I had sliced open. The hatred he held burned in his eyes so passionately that I feared for the trees.

"You don't have to do this," I told him calmly. "You don't have to serve Aizen."

"You think I would side with you after what you did? My only two companions! We weren't fraccion! We were an elite group created to take care of the three of you. We were alone! All we had was each other!"

"Well now, it seems like Aizen really does have a sense of humor. He created you three to be like us. All I had were my brothers. You took them away. Now we stand at an impasse."

"You think so?" He sneered. "I've infected you. It's only a matter of time before my parasite takes over you completely." I narrowed my right eye at him as my left was covered by my brand new mask.

_'He should not be so hasty. Pull the mask away. I've locked it's power up so it has no control at the moment.' _I smirked at the creature in front of me and lifted my left hand to my face. The bizarre new material crumbled effortlessly under my fingers. All except for the eye ring that had formed right after I was infected. It took a bit more effort, but I managed to get the ring off too. It didn't crumble the way the rest of it had. Instead, it seemed to dissolve and reform around the hilt of my sword right above the suba. When I looked back at the arrancar, his face had dropped. The hatred was replaced with fear and confusion.

"W-what? H-h-how-? That's not possible!"

"You think so?" I spat his own words back at him. His hatred and rage returned and he dove at me, blade flashing. I had been holding my own well enough against the three of them when they were in control of themselves. Now that I was faced with one that had lost his mind, I barely had to try. I only used one hand as I blocked everyone of his strikes. I frowned at the pitiful thing. What point was there in fighting him if he wasn't truly fighting?

"Don't throw your life away," I told him. "You don't have to listen to Aizen. He's the one who took everything from you. You used to be strong, now you're just an insect." I kept blocking his strikes as I spoke. With one final swing, I knocked him 20 feet away where he landed in a jumble of limbs. "Leave and come after me when you're stronger." I turned my back and sheathed my sword, walking away.

_'Is it really wise to leave him alive?'_

_'He won't go back. He's too afraid of Aizen and too mad at me. He'll hunt me down. I'll wait until he's stronger.'_

_'Why?'_

_'Why what?'_

_'Why wait?'_

_'There's no honor in killing someone in that state. It doesn't make you strong, it makes you a bully.'_

_'And I suppose that that is a belief of the Eleventh Squad has nothing to do with your decision?'_

_'Oh shut up. I've always thought like that. I was never good at acting on it because I was so small and weak, but I viewed others that way. If they fought those who were weaker then they were bullies. It was only brave if you fought someone who was as strong as you or stronger. I always was a spartan in theory, but now I get to be one in practice.'_

_'I see. But what if they come for him? They could get information on you. They could probably even track you.'_

_'That is a possibility, but I doubt it. I know the characters of _Bleach_ pretty well. Aizen may send Szayel to get him, but I think he might be more interested to see how this whole thing plays out. This is all one big Chess game to him. That arrancar is a pawn that can easily be sacrificed. Right now he probably just wants to see how I'll react to him poking my defenses.'_

_'I hope you are right. Other wise we will be in a great deal of trouble.'_

* * *

Time passed and I grew stronger. I managed to gain some control over the parasite and I learned to use it to my advantage. When I activated it I could suppress my reiatsu to nearly nothing, my kidō improved in speed, power, and control, and I could move faster and strike harder. The only down side was that I sometimes lost control. It never took over completely, but it would resist me when I would try to remove the mask after a fight. It began scarring my face when I left it on for extended periods of time. I had several larger scars, one stretching from my right eye to my right ear, and another from my eye to my jaw. I continually grew closer to my zanpakutō as well. I managed to make several trips to my inner world where I discovered that the water was so still that it seemed to be glass. When I focused and meditated, I could make the water so still that it didn't even ripple where my feet or the trees touched it. It had only been so before because of the intruder. My strength improved so much that I was even able to take out a few Menos Grande that crossed my path. They were only Gillian, but I was proud of how much I had grown.

Time still passed in a way that I couldn't mark, but I guessed that some time had passed since the whole Rukia ordeal. I was beginning to lose hope of ever finding Soul Society when my past caught up with me. My infecter showed up one day seemingly out of nowhere.

"Well, well, long time no see."

"I've come to get my revenge."

"You've come to kill me? Aizen-baka wouldn't like that."

"I'm not here for Aizen-sama. First my revenge."

"First? What do you plan to do after you kill me?"

"Who ever said I was planning to kill you? I will make you wish for death, beg for death."

"And then?"

"Then I will take you to Aizen-sama. There may be a way to bring them back. If I take you to him, he will bring them back to me." I frowned.

"And how will he do that?"

"I don't know and I don't care!"

"Do you think he will use the Hokyoku for something like that? Don't delude yourself. If they were so useless that he got rid of them in the first place, he wouldn't waste the effort to bring them back."

"Shut up!"

We both paused, just staring each other down. I could clearly see the hate burning in his eyes, but it wasn't uncontrolled rage this time. He was channeling it and focusing it on me.

"What's your name?" I didn't know why, but something inside of me was nagging me to know his name. I guess it was because he was like me and that the two he lost had names. I wanted to know what his was.

"It's rude to ask someone's name without first giving your own."

"Jessica. I assumed you knew."

"It wasn't important."

"Well?"

"Toshi"

"Toshi what?"

"Just Toshi. Why the sudden interest?"

"I wanted to know the name of the first arrancar that I kill."

"You killed Hotaru and Onigumo," he growled.

"Indirectly. And, thanks to you, I know their names."

"I see."

We paused for another moment before starting. The fight didn't last long. Neither of us held back. He died at my hand, but not without a struggle. I had to use my mask once he released his resurreccion. By the end, he was in pieces and I wasn't doing much better. I stood panting, staring down at his limp form still clinging to that last spark of life.

"They're alive, you know. Your brothers."

"Why tell me?"

"I'm going to be with Hotaru and Onigumo now. It's only fair that I tell you what I know. They're out there. You just need to find them."

"Thank you."

"What are their names?"

"Ben and Nick."

"Thank you."

"Good bye, Toshi." With one last breath, the life faded from his eyes. I weakly sheathed my zanpakutō and raised a heavy hand to pull away the mask. It wouldn't budge.

_'The parasite is being temperamental again. Join me and we will remove it together so you do not hurt yourself.'_

_'Thanks.' _I sat down near a small rock formation and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was back in my inner world. The ever full moon was covered by thin wispy clouds and the water was anything but still.

'It is throwing another tantrum, Jessica.'

'Well what do you want me to do about it? I can't control it without you.'

'Then let us remove this annoyance.' It took a little time, but we eventually calmed the parasite down and sealed it. The water slowly returned to it's near solid state of stillness and the clouds disappeared, leaving the moonlight to shine through unhindered.

'So I've got more questions for you.'

'Very well,' he sighed.

'A shinigami's inner world reflects them, right? So why is mine like this?'

'How do you mean?'

'Well, for starters, why is everything in black and white?'

'I believe it has something to do with our reiatsus. Mine is black, though not like a hollows, and yours is white. Together, we have a silver reiatsu. Also, as I mentioned before, we are like yin and yang. We balance each other out.'

'Oh, okay. Well, what about the water and the trees?'

'I'm afraid the nature of all of this eludes me. I do not understand everything. However, I would like to take this time to continue our training. Your power is in creasing, but it is a fragile thing.'

'How so?'

'As I said, we balance one another. While neither of us prefers the use of kidō in battle, it is necessary. You will not be able to reach your full potential with my power without reaching your full potential with your kidō power.'

'Really? So, if I didn't bother practicing with a sword at all, I wouldn't be able to improve my kidō?'

'Yes. And, though it pains me to say, I believe we may need to include mixed training as well.'

'Mixed? Like using kidō with you? Alright, I guess we don't really have a choice, do we, Buddy?'

'I hate it when you call me that.'

'Yeah, well until I learn your name, Buddy will have to do.'

'Bi..., my name is Bis...' My head snapped around to face him, eyes wide.

'Wait! I almost heard it that time! Say it again!'

'Bisha...'

'Again!'

'Bishamo...'

'Bishamo?'

'Bishamonten. My name is Bishamonten.'

'Bishamonten! I heard you!'

I did a little victory dance in my inner world, but Bishamonten was to elated to care or make fun of me. I was finally able to hear his name. I could finally learn to use my shikai! We didn't spare a second. We immediately began training in everything from hand to hand, to kidō, to kendo, to releasing my shikai. I kept getting stronger, but so did the parasite.

I was just dealing with some rogue hollow and a Gillian, when I felt it. The parasite began to creep farther over my face. I had put the eye ring on, but kept the mask at a minimum. I had forgotten something very important, though. I wasn't a vizard, but I wasn't that different from one. The hollow parasite was connected to my zanpakutō so it was much easier for it to escape and take control when I released my shikai. I started to panic as I felt it continue to grow. Then next few minutes were all a blur. I didn't know what happened, but the hollows were all dead, and I was in excruciating pain. I had taken a number of hits and the mask was beginning to burrow deeper, trying to overpower me. I felt Bishamonten fight with me to suppress it. We managed, but only just. I sealed my shikai and sheathed my sword. The mask was still in place on my face, covering my eyes. I didn't know what to do or where to go, but I started walking.

_'This is getting out of hand, we need to properly seal the beast once and for all.'_

_'You know we can't do that, B.'_

_'B?'_

_'Would you prefer 'Buddy'?'_

Silence.

_'That's what I thought.'_

_'Well, we can't just keep wandering around hoping the shinigami will find us.'_

_'Oh, do you have a better idea?'_

More silence.

_'That's what I thought.'_

We continued to bicker like this for sometime before we were interrupted. A huge reiatsu came out of nowhere, crashing down on us. I felt my panic rise again. I fought to drown out some of the noise so I could focus on fighting whatever this thing was. No luck.

_'No! I can't die! Not yet! I have to find them! I need to find out what happened to them! Bi-'_

_'I am doing my best, but our current condition is complicating things.'_

The reiatsu bearing down on us drew closer.

I've fought many powerful Menos in the past, but this spiritual pressure made them seem like mere insects. It could have been that I was so weak and disoriented, laying there in the middle of nowhere at that moment, that this being seemed stronger than it was, but I could hardly see or hear anything over the reiatsu, much less stand upright under its pressure!

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" I recognized that voice. Of course I did. I knew all of their voices. All of the important ones, at least. The problem was I couldn't identify who the voice belonged to. The reiatsu was so loud that I could barely make out what the voice was saying. I tried to focus on the reiatsu. Maybe if I could identify that, then I could figure out who or what this person was. My efforts were useless, though; the spiritual force was so strong that I felt numb. I was no longer able to see or hear or feel anything.

I let myself slip into the welcoming darkness with the thought of revenge as my only form of comfort.

I would take him back, and then I would kill it.

* * *

_…_

I think that Haikus

are fun and nifty to do

do you like them too?

_…_

___…_  



	6. REUNION

Okay! So what do you guys think of the rewrite and new chappies?

**DISCLAIMER:** Yes, I totally own Bleach. I'm secretly Tite Kubo. That's why I'm writing my stories in a fanfiction and not actually in Bleach. _***SARCASM***_

* * *

I opened my eyes and pulled my hands off of the crystal ball. No one said anything for several very long minutes. Many of the captains seemed like they wanted to say something but were waiting for the commander to break the silence. Finally, he did.

"You seem to be a truly unique being, Hanashi Jessica."

"Yamamoto-sotaicho," Soifon nearly growled. "This creature is a danger to Soul Society. She should be done away with."

"Oh, come now, Soifon-taicho," Freakenstein smirked. They way Kurotsuchi practically purred gave me chills. "Surely you can see that she would be a far greater asset. If what Aizen told her is true, then she will be very important when this new threat arises."

"I agree with Kurotsuchi-taicho," Byakuya said. I was kind of shocked to hear him speak at all, much less in my defense. "I believe that research on such a threat should be done before we decide what to do with her."

"But is it safe?" I listened to the deep rumbling voice of Komamura, the fox-headed captain. I could hear the warring emotions in his voice. He didn't want to condemn me if I was innocent, but he wouldn't let me hurt anyone if I was guilty. "How can we know that Aizen didn't lie to her so that we would believe his tale? How can we know that she is not being controlled by the parasite connected to her?"

"We can't know anything for sure as of yet," Unohana's voice was gentle, but still commanded attention.

"Unohana-taicho is correct. We should do more research as Kuchiki-taicho suggested before we make a final decision as to her fate."

"And what are we to do with her during this time, Hitsugaya-taicho? If she is not innocent then we can't just let her run free around the Seireitei."

"Oh, don't worry, Ukitake-taicho. I have a perfect cell for her that I can have ready in less than an hour." My stomach dropped like a lead weight. Were they going to hand me over to Kurotsuchi?

"Are you sure you can hold her this time?" spat Soifon. "You obviously couldn't before. What's to say she won't break out again?"

"I am much more prepared this time." The venom dripping from Kurotsuchi's words nearly melted a hole in the floor. "I was not properly informed before. I will be able to make the necessary adjustments easily."

"Then she will be held in the Shinigami Research and Development Institute." Any arguing or speculation was stopped dead when Yamamoto spoke. "Understand, Kurotsuchi-taicho, that you are not to run any tests or perform any experiments on her unless and until I grant you permission. I will call for another meeting when adequate research and investigation has been done." He slammed his staff against the floor once as a judge would bang a gavel to dismiss court. Everyone began to file out, save for Kurotsuchi, Yamamoto, Sasakibe, Kotetsu, and Unohana. Nemu darted past everyone once her father had given her her orders.

"Well, shall we?" Freakenstein grinned at me in a way that made my skin crawl.

"Please wait a moment, Kurotsuchi-taicho." His grin quickly dropped to a frown at Unohana's interjection.

"What do you want?"

"Since you said that the cell will not be ready for some time, perhaps I could take her to back to the Fourth Division Barracks so that I can finish treating her wounds."

"I don't see why that is necessary. She is a prisoner, not a guest."

"That is true, but if the Commander decides to let you have your tests and experiments, won't you want her in full health?"

"Yes, I suppose I would, but she was healthy and strong enough to last through the primary hearing, so I'm sure that she will be just fine for testing by the time the next meeting is called."

"Kurotsuchi-taicho, you will release custody of the girl to Unohana-taicho until the new holding cell is ready. The hollow parasite nearly took control of her once already due to her wounds and fatigue, and I do not wish for that to happen again. Unohana-taicho, please see to it that she is healthy and strong so that we do not have a repeat occurrence."

"Understood, Yamamoto-sotaicho." Unohana bowed and gently led me out of the meeting hall, Kurotsuchi storming away in front of us. I let her lead me, but I shot a desperate glance back at Bishamonten. After everything that happened in Soul Society, and then reliving my new life and after-life, I didn't know if I could handle being away from him for much longer. Unohana noticed this and stopped.

"I think, Unohana-taicho, that the girl's zanpakutō would be safest in your possession for now. I do not believe that she would be foolish enough to try anything with you right there." My eyes snapped to the old man. He saw what the separation was doing to me and he took pity on me.

"Of course, Commander." Sasakibe handed the blade over to Kotetsu before returning to his spot next to the commander. I sent him a grateful look before bowing and following Unohana out the door. I nearly stopped dead in my tracks when a bubbly voice sounded from inside the meeting hall.

"Hey, Gramps! Can I go with Re-chan and Kitty-chan?"

"Kusajishi-fukotaicho? What interest do you have in the girl?"

"Kitty-chan's my new friend!"

"Very well. As long as Unohana-taicho allows it, then yes."

"YAY!" A split second later, I was tackled to the ground by the raging ball of pink joy.

"Y-Yachi-"

"Guess what! Guess what! I get to stay with you, Kitty-chan! Well, if Re-chan says it's okay." She looked up at the master healer with the biggest puppy dog eyes I had ever seen.

"That's alright with me. Please just remember that she needs to heal and rest."

"Okay!"

* * *

To say I was relaxed and calm would be an understatement. Unohana seemed to be on my side and treated me kindly the whole time I was there. That may just have been because she knew I was going to be turned over to the King of Freaks in less than an hour and she took pity on me, but I was happy to accept any kind treatment that was given to me. Regardless, I didn't let my impending imprisonment dampen my mood. At first, I thought that Yachiru would get bored of just sitting there, but that wasn't quite the case. She sat in her chair jumping up and down in excitement. She told me stories about Ben and Nick and their squads. I laughed for five solid minutes when she told me that Ben was on Squad Six. If there was one thing that Ben hated, it was Kuchiki Byakuya. He would always talk about how he wished that the raven haired man was real so he could kill him. Now, not only was he in a world where he was currently incapable and not allowed to kill the Kuchiki, but he was the noble's SUBORDINATE! The funniest part is that Ben is kind of crazy and head strong when he's not being lazy while the Sixth Division focuses on discipline and adherence to the rules. Nick didn't have such a dramatic tale. He was placed on the Seventh Division. I briefly wondered if Komamura's opinion of me had anything to do with Nick being in his squad. I didn't get much time to reflect on those two, however. Yachiru quickly began firing questions at me, asking questions about my story and my zanpakutō and such.

"Kitty-chan! Kitty-chan! Do you really want to be in my Squad?"

"Yeah," I chuckled.

"Yay! I hope they put you there! Then we'll get to play together all the time!" I just smiled at her, not bothering to mention the fact that I might not be put in the Gotei 13 at all. She was a child with the mind of a child and the logic of a child. If I said anything, she would simply explain it away with her own reasoning, not the slightest bit daunted, so I didn't bother.

"Kusajishi-fukotaicho, I seem to have left a vile of medicine that I need in a my office. Do you think you could run and get it for me?"

"Sure, Re-chan!" Unohana watched her bound out of the room and down the hall. When she turned to face me, she had grown more serious.

"I would like to warn you, Hanashi-san. I will not tell you to not join the Eleventh Division should you be allowed into the Gotei 13, but I would advise against it. Yachiru is the only female in the entire division and she is not only the Lieutenant, but she is a child and is like a daughter to Zaraki-taicho. If you join that Squad, things will be very difficult for you."

"I understand, Unohana-taicho. I know that they won't readily accept me and they'll probably try to either scare me off or take advantage of me or both. Joining Squad Eleven has been my dream since the hollow attack, but this is the first time I've actually put any thought into such a decision."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, whatever happens." Yachiru's energetic entrance signaled the end of the conversation.

* * *

Not much happened in the next few hours. Well, nothing exciting, at least. Unohana treated me, Yachiru chatted away at me, and Kurotsuchi finished his special cell and transfered me. It was easier to stay calm about being in his custody now that I at least had Bishamonten by my side. The mad scientist kept muttering away to himself and his underlings about all of the experiments he would conduct on me. It didn't bother me, though. I trusted that B wasn't lying to me so I knew that Aizen had to be telling the truth too. I didn't know whether or not I would be allowed to join the Gotei 13, but I doubted the Commander would just surrender me over to Kurotsuchi.

_'What do we do if we _are _to be subjected to him?'_

_'Relax, Yamamoto isn't heartless. When he sees the truth, he'll be on our side. We might have to go through some experiments, but I'm sure they'll just be tests. No dissections. We just need to be on our best behavior while they do their research. We have nothing to hide, right?'_

_'Not exactly. There are things that were never put into the records that I have not told you.'_

_'What kind of things?'_

_'Things that are better kept secret.'_

_'Quit messing around, Bishamonten! Will we get in trouble? I'm not going to be an enemy of Soul Society!'_

_'No. They will simply see the holes in their own history that have always been there. All you need do is be honest and tell them that you do not know all of the details yourself.'_

_'If this doesn't work out, I'm gunna go in there and kick your shiny metal ass!'_

_'I will be the first to admit that the things which I have asked you to do seemed insane, dangerous, and highly counterproductive, but you have always followed my instructions and we have managed to survive in one piece thus far.'_

_'Whatever. This whole thing has been one crazy trip down the rabbit hole.'_

Time drug on and I was beginning to die of boredom when Kurotsuchi himself walked into the room my cell was in, Nemu trailing behind him as always.

"Kurotsuchi Mayuri-taicho. To what do I owe this pleasure?" I was starting to get a little nervous by this point because I hadn't heard any news and I was starting to worry that the Captains had already had their second meeting and decided in Freakenstein's favor.

"I have come to check up on the newest edition to my collection. You are a one of a kind specimen. I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Well, I'm afraid there's really nothing you can do for me, Captain. You see, I would be much more comfortable if I were allowed outside of my cell, but-"

"I have no intention of doing so. Aside from my own interest in keeping you here, Yamamoto-sotaicho has ordered you to be kept here until further notice."

"Of course. So, we seem to have a conflict of interests. I'll just have to stay uncomfortable for the time being. Was there something else you wanted?" He grimaced at me, clearly not liking my attitude. Even though he was totally unnerving me just by being in the same room, I kept my aloof demeanor in hopes that he would get annoyed and storm out, leaving me in peace.

"Yes, there was one other thing."

"And what would that be, Captain?"

"You have some visitors. The Commander has approved them to visit you, but Nemu will be staying to personally monitor you."

"Visitors? Who is it?" He didn't answer me as he turned and walked out. Nemu stayed where she was, eyes locked on me, totally unmoving. "Hey!" I called. I darted over to the bars of my cell, poking my face through the space between them and continued yelling. "Hey Freakenstein! Who is it?" I'm not sure why, but the fact that he wouldn't tell me who these mysterious visitors were scared me. Who would bother to come visit me? Was it Yachiru again? Was it Kenpachi coming to size me up after finding out I wanted to be on his squad? Who was it? I stared at the doorway as two tall, muscular forms entered it. Nemu walked over to stand beside the back wall as the two figures approached.

"Oh," I sighed, "And here I was worried it was someone important coming to visit me!"

"Thanks, Jess, love you too." We both spoke with sarcasm, but I was glad I got to see them again.

"How you holding up in here?" Nick asked. If Ben or I got hurt, Nick was the one to ask if we were okay. We would only crack jokes about the other, so he took it upon himself to see about our health. If he was hurt, we'd both check up on him and worry about him, but he was just more of a caretaker than either of us. He took a step closer to the bars, but didn't touch them.

"Meh, I've been better. But, on the bright side, I'm not being kept in a great big block of Sekki stone like I was last time. By the way, those bars aren't electrified or anything. I've already touched them."

"Yeeeaaaah, I still don't think I'll take any chances," he said while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Kurotsuchi would be the one to make it only electrify people on the outside."

"True. So what brings you guys here? I didn't think I'd be allowed to see you guys again. At least not until after everything got cleared up."

"Well, it took a crap load of begging, but we finally got Yamamoto-sotaicho to agree."

"I think the research was taking longer than he thought it would and we were really starting to annoy him."

"Yeah, and I think Kuchiki-taicho had something to do with it too." Ben groused at Nick's comment.

"Why? What did he do?"

"He spoke to the Commander right before we got permission to see you. I think he gave him an excuse to let us in." My eyes darted over to Nemu who still stood stock still in the corner, eyes watching our every move.

"They want to see what I tell you guys and how I interact with you."

"Right."

"So, let's give them something to help prove you're innocent. What did you tell them?"

"Technically I didn't tell them anything. They had me use this crystal ball to show them what happened. They said it was so I couldn't lie."

"They did that for us too, but it's not perfect. It plays memories. So, if I remember that a specific building was red, but you remember it being blue-"

"There'll be differences in our stories even if we both saw the building together."

"Exactly."

"How did you find that out?"

"Nick remembered things a little differently than I did."

"So, what did you tell them? What memories did you show?"

"Everything, I guess. I started back when we first woke up in the street and just went from there."

"You told them everything? How we got our zanpakutōs? How we got split up? Everything?"

"Yes, I told them everything. Would you just chill?"

"Did you tell them about that weird voice you used to hear?"

"Oh, yeah I did. Actually, I found out what that was."

"Really?"

"What?"

"My zanpakutō." They both just stood there staring at me for a few seconds.

"What do you mean your zanpakutō? You said you heard it way back in the beginning, back when we were alive."

"Yup. Apparently I could hear him because of my super hearing. He said that we all had to somehow sense our zanpakutōs before we could become shinigami."

"Wait, your zanpakutō told you about our zanpakutōs?"

"Jess, that's not possible."

"I know, I know. Look, there's a lot that I found out that I'll have to tell you guys, but later. It's a really long story and I don't feel like going through it again."

"So how did we have to sense our zanpakutōs?"

"You had to somehow see his reiatsu. Probably by seeing your own for a split second when you first changed. Ben, you had to smell yours."

"Really?" It wasn't an intrigued 'really' or a surprised 'really' or even a 'no duh' 'really'. It was a 'you can NOT be serious' 'really'.

"Yes, really. He said you had to learn to identify his scent, and you probably just brushed it off as finally recognizing your own scent."

"Jess, I'm not sure how much I'm going to believe what someone else's zanpakutō says about my zanpakutō."

"I understand that, and I'm not going to try to change your mind right now because it would be pointless. You'll both understand when I tell you what happened after we got split up."

"Why don't you tell us now?"

"Yeah, just leave out the details for now."

"Fine..."

So, we all sat down on the floor and I gave them the super condensed version of my story.

* * *

"So that's how you got that mask, huh? I was wondering about that," Ben mused.

"Me too. I can't tell you how freaked out I was to see you like that. We thought you were an arrancar."

"So it's different from being a Vizard?"

"Yeah, but it also has it's similarities. It's connected to my zanpakutō like a Vizard's, but it's not a sentient entity that will submit if I beat it. It's more like an animal with base instincts and feelings."

"If you can hear you zanpakutō all the time, can you hear it too?"

"No, we keep it locked up. It's constantly fighting for power, so Bishamonten usually keeps it subdued. We fought it once together and managed to lock it away. I think it was a kind of kidō barrier, but I'm not sure. If they let me join the Gotei 13, I want to study kidō so I can learn better seals to lock it up. Every time I use the mask, even a little bit, the damn parasite fights to take over."

"Is that why it was stuck on your face before?"

"Yeah. They found me right after a fight where it almost took over. I didn't have enough strength to remove the mask. By the time I woke up, it had been on my face for a while, so it had a good foot hold. I couldn't remove any of it without Bishamonten's help."

"Which is why you broke out and stole him back."

"Partially. Even if I had been able to remove it all on my own, I would have broken out and hunted him down. He's not like other zanpakutōs and not even like yours. He's constantly in my head, so our bond is really strong. It didn't take long for me to learn his name and we always fight side by side even when I'm not using my shikai. Waking up alone with him no where in sight terrified me."

"Wow. She said you had a strong bond, but I didn't think it was that extreme," Nick marveled.

"'She'?"

"Unohana-taicho," Ben responded. "We talked with her to see how you were doing. We talked right after you'd been moved here. She said that you had an unnaturally strong bond."

"I guess it is unnatural..." I had just accepted it after a while, so I guess I never realized how weird we were. "Have you guys spoken with your zanpakutō?"

"I have. Nick's getting there."

"Yeah, 'getting there'. That's fancy talk for 'still swinging a useless sword around'."

"F.Y.I. You're never going to get anywhere if you keep calling him a 'useless sword'. Nothing's more painful for a zanpakutō than to not be recognized by their shinigami. It's harder for us to understand because we can interact with those around us and we have friends and family. To a zanpakutō, nothing exists outside of themselves and their shinigami."

"Huh, never thought of it like that before. It's just weird to think that an inanimate object has a mind and a soul."

"Especially when they don't make it easy to interact with them," Ben muttered angrily.

"Did you have trouble with yours?"

"It hates me. I can summon my shikai, but it's never as strong as it could be. It's holding back and it even tries to fight me. I'm just better off not using my shikai at all."

"Again, try being nice. A zanpakutō acts as the final piece to a shinigami. They complete us. Sometimes they're copies of us, sometimes they're our exact opposites, and sometimes they're just something different. But, whatever they are, they are our missing piece. Think about it. For people like Matsumoto, they need a doppelganger counterpart. Haineko looks and acts just like her. Other people need opposites, like Hisagi. He is a gentle person who believes in justice. Kazeshini just likes to kill things. Then there are people like Hitsugaya and Renji whose zanpakutōs are simply the counterparts they need to be."

"I guess that makes sense."

"So which one is yours?"

"Mine? Hmm... I guess B is one of the third group. We're not the same, but we're not opposites. Oh! Wait."

"What?"

"Well, we kind of are opposites."

"How can you be kind of opposites?"

"Well, he said we're like Yin and Yang. Two opposite yet equal parts. But the thing about Yin and Yang is that each has a piece of the other. I guess that's why were close and not like Hisagi and Kazeshini."

"Whatever."

We spent the rest of our time together just joking around and remembering the good ol' days. They each told me a little about what happened after we got split up and how they ended up getting to Soul Society. Nick even met Ichigo and the gang because he had arrived just a little before the whole "Rescuing Rukia" fiasco.

"OK, I have to ask."

"Ask what?"

"Who told?"

"Told what?"

"About _Bleach_! Who told them?"

"Well..."

"It was Nick's fault."

"Ben!"

"He told them flat out."

"I did not! I didn't say a word the whole time I was here and then you showed up when the whole place is in an uproar over Ichigo and Rukia. I was trying to help you and then you go yammering on about all the Captains! I had to tell them!"

"You could've made up some kind of excuse."

"After everything I went through to gain their trust? I don't think so!"

"So you're both to blame."

"No, it's his fault!" they shouted in unison. I laughed and teased them for a little while longer before we were interrupted. Kurotsuchi came back but this time Byakuya and Komamura were with him. Immediately, Ben and Nick shot to their feet and bowed to the captains. Kurotsuchi waved them away in annoyance and turned to me.

"Yamamoto-sotaicho has called the second meeting. You are to come with me."

"Nick-san,"

"Yes, Komamura-taicho?"

"You and your brother are to come as well. Kuchiki-taicho and I have come to escort you."

_'Is it really necessary for three Captains to escort three unseated shinigami? Nick has not even achieved shikai yet and, even at our absolute best, we could not hope to defeat a captain even with the help from your brothers.'_

_'Oh shut up. They get to come along so I'm not complaining. Besides, why do you care?'_

_'If they feel the need to assign three captains to escort you, then they may still see you as a threat. I am simply being cautious.'_

_'You're simply being a pain in the ass. Maybe Byakuya and Komamura wanted to come. Maybe they wanted to keep an eye on their subordinates.'_

_'That is a possibility, but I would rather be cautious and safe then foolish and dead.'_

_'Whatever. Let's just get this over with.'_

Through the whole conversation, I kept my demeanor calm and relaxed, not betraying the slightly heated discussion going on inside my head. In no time at all, I was back in the Captains' Meeting Hall. It wasn't as daunting as last time thanks to the new company. Ben and Nick each stood behind their respective captains, but I didn't doubt for one second that they would jump to my aid should the need arise. Then there was B. When my sword was in my hand or strapped to my hip, I felt like I could do anything.

I stood in the middle just like I had last time, and the Captains all stood in their same spots. Ben stood just behind Renji and Byakuya and Nick stood behind Tetsuzaemon and Komamura. We all stood in silence for a few moments, waiting for Yamamoto to speak. The longer he waited, the more nervous I became.

"Hanashi Jessica," he finally said. "You stand before us now for your final trial. Your fate will be decided here and now." He paused to let the significance of this meeting sink in before continuing. "Hitsugaya-taicho, what did your research uncover?"

"There are ancient records of the Four Generals. They were created by the Soul King and served and protected him, just as Aizen said."

"Was that all you could find?"

"Yes, sir. There is no record of what happened to them, only that they and the monsters they were created to fight disappeared at around the same time. There is a gap in the records where this happens, but it's been over looked for centuries and there are many gaps in the records that are that old."

"I see. Kuchiki-taicho, I believe you did your own research as well. What did you find?"

"I found the names of the Four Generals, Commander. Apparently, each general had a connection to one of the Four Great Noble Houses. Komokuten-sama, the General of the West was associated with the Kuchiki family. The others were Bishamonten, the General of the North and the leader, Jikokuten, the General of the East, and Zochoten, the General of the South. I do not know which clans the other Generals affiliated with."

"Soifon-taicho, are you capable of accessing the Shihoin family records?"

"Not the ones we would need, Sir. Only the head of the family can access the old records."

"Then contact Shihoin Yoruichi in the human world. The more we know about the Generals, the better. We must assume that Aizen knows more than we do. Kurotsuchi-taicho, what have you found by observing the three shinigami in question?" I heard the jolt of surprise ripple through my brothers' reiatsus. I guess they didn't know that they had been under observation too.

"Not much, unfortunately. They interact with one another as they would with any shinigami, save for one exception."

"And that would be?"

"They interact subconsciously as well. Each has a unique sense that they use to read the others. The girl's hearing, for example. When the other two entered the room, the flow of her reiatsu changed. She began listening to their reiatsus on a subconscious level. If asked she would most likely say that she couldn't hear anything, but she was reading their reiatsus. My equipment picked up similar fluctuations from both of the males, so I assume that they each acted the same with their own senses. Such interaction can be seen in animal packs. When they approach one another, they check to ensure that the other or others are not scared, hurt, or upset in some way. They are not biological siblings, but they treat each other as such. I'm sure I can find much more if I am allowed to conduct my experiments."

"We will address that topic later, Kurotsuchi-taicho. If no one else has any information to present, then we will commence with the secondary questioning. Hanashi Ben, Hanashi Nick, both of you step forward and join your sister." They both did as they were told, Nick standing on my left and Ben on my right. "What do you know about the Four Generals?" He turned his head to Ben first.

"Nothing, Yamamoto-sotaicho. I hadn't even heard of them before today." He didn't nod or show any sign that he heard Ben at all. He only turned his head to face Nick.

"I heard of them once or twice in the living world, but that was only in passing." I expected him to start his next question, but instead he faced me. I blinked in surprise.

"Oh, uh, I've told you, or rather shown you all I know. I'd never heard of them before Aizen found me." The old man just kept staring at me, totally unfazed. "I know that the Four Generals were created by the Soul King to fight the mysterious force that nearly destroyed all of Soul Society a millennia ago. What no one knew was that there was a man behind the scenes, controlling the creatures. When the Generals nearly destroyed the creatures, he sealed them away so that they could once again wreak havoc long after the Generals were dead and gone. To counter this, the Generals sacrificed themselves so that they could be reborn as zanpakutō when they were needed again. The North, West, and East Generals went to our world to be reborn and, supposedly, they chose us. The fourth General was to stay here to be reborn and then travel to our world when it was time to summon us here. Aizen said he wanted me because I'm supposed to be the leader."

"Do you know the identities of the other three generals?"

"I don't have the slightest idea who the South General is, but Bishamonten said something when each of my brothers became shinigami. He muttered the 'West' when Nick changed, and 'East' when Ben changed."

"So you believe Ben is the reincarnation of Jikokuten, the General of the East, and Nick is the reincarnation of Komokuten, the General of the West?"

"If Bishamonten was correct, then yes. I don't have any other evidence to support this, but then I don't know very much about Jikokuten or Komokuten. I do know that what Aizen said about the Shitenno is true. If the information about the Generals is limited in your records, then you may find some helpful information in the human world."

"Hanashi Ben, you have achieved Shikai, yes?"

"Yes, Commander."

"What is the name of your zanpakutō?"

"Jikokuten." He nodded then turned his attention back to me.

"And what of the South General? You claim that he was the mysterious man who brought you to this world?"

"In all honesty, I can't remember much of anything of him. I saw him once briefly when we were all out together and then again in my dream that night, but I don't remember what he looked or sounded like."

"And you two?" I saw Nick and Ben both shake their heads 'no' out of the corner of my eye. "Do any of the Captains have any questions?" Silence. "Very well then. For the sake of Knowledge, Kurotsuchi-taicho will be permitted to run tests on all three shinigami in question. However, every test must be overseen by Unohana-taicho, Kuchiki-taicho, and Komamura-taicho. If any or all of the overseers deem the test too dangerous or inhumane, then the test will not be performed. Hanashi Nick, Hanashi Ben, you may return to your places." They bowed to the Commander and both went back to stand behind their captains and lieutenants. "Now to the matter of what to do with you." I shifted uncomfortably under everyone's gaze. "You are a fully realized shinigami and you have even achieved Shikai. You have expressed interest in joining the Eleventh Division. However, your talent for kidō would not only be wasted in such a placement, but it would hold you back. Instead, you will be placed in the Fourth Division." I had mixed feelings about my placement, but I was just glad that I was allowed in the Gotei 13 and I had a Captain who seemed to like me. I had to take a deep breath to clear my head at all of the sudden emotions in the room. Everyone's reiatsu rippled accordingly, causing a jumbled mess of sounds. A number of the Captains and Lieutenants seem intrigued or surprised at the old man's decision. Most of the Lieutenants, including Nemu, seemed indifferent about the whole thing, not really caring one way or the other. I didn't miss the utter shock coming from Nick and Ben. Then there was the little bit of disappointment I heard coming from Yachiru and Kurotsuchi. He probably wanted me all to himself. What confused me was Kenpachi's reaction. There were a bunch of feelings humming around each other. I heard shock, disappointment, and what sounded like a scoff. He probably wanted to see me in action, but didn't want to bother with a kidō user.

"Thank you, Yamamoto-sotaicho," I said with a deep bow. The meeting was dismissed and everyone began to leave. I moved over to Unohana who stood waiting by the door with Isane standing beside her.

"Hello, Hanashi-san," Isane beamed down at me. "It's a pleasure to have you in our Division."

"Thank you, Kotetsu-fukotaicho. I hope to learn a lot about kidō."

"I'm sure you will pick things up quickly, Hanashi-san," Unohana said, "but do not expect things to be easy. I will expect more of you because of your talent, and I will not accept failure."

"Of course, Captain," I said seriously. I followed them both out of the meeting hall and to my new home in the Squad Four barracks.

* * *

I'm running out of

things for my little haikus.

How was this chapter?


	7. AUTHOR'S NOTEAGAIN

Hello everyone. I'm sorry if I got your hopes up about a new chapter, but I'm putting Reign of the Four Generals on Hiatus for the time being. I want the plot of my story to intertwine heavily with the actual Bleach plot. So, until Tite Kubo finishes, I won't be posting any new chapters. In fact, I'll probably be taking this story down after a while. Once this arc, and Bleach as a whole is finished, I will finish writing this story and any possible sequels. I will revamp and rewrite where necessary(so hopefully I will be totally free of the plot holes and inconsistencies that seem to plague me, especially in my longer chapters and stories). I apologize for doing this again, especially to those of you who have been following me and this story for a while. I hope you all enjoy the story when it's finally finished

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And for the record, I totally called the whole "zanpakuto are partners and 'your other half' not weapons or tools" thing!


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